Pregnant
by Mandie scifi lover
Summary: Maddy finds out she's pregnant. Set some time in the near future. I don't actually think this will happen but I wanted to try it.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Why did her mom have to be a doctor_? Maddy sighed and turned to walk around the block one more time, buying time to think. She couldn't go into the infirmary without her mother seeing her but she really, really needed to go in. Since this is Terra Nova, and not 2149, she had to go to the hospital to get a stupid test instead of being able to go to the store and do one at home. She twirled one long piece of hair between her fingers in worry.

_Stupid!_ Why had she been so stupid? What had possessed her? Of course, she knew what. Reynolds was irresistible. They had both thought they would be able to control themselves but… that had not been the case. She groaned out loud. To top matters off, after they had done the deed, Reynolds had been so ashamed and sorry that he'd left and not spoken to her since. What kind of boyfriend does that?

Tears welled in her eyes at that thought. She saw him regularly and he could barely keep his eyes from following her. She could see the longing in them, the hurt. But he still didn't talk to her.

Well, he'd have no choice soon enough.

Her fifth time around the block was fast coming to an end and as she approached the doors she steeled herself and opened them before she had a chance to change her mind. She, of course, plowed right into Reynolds, who was coming out with a fresh bandage on his arm.

"Oh!" Maddy exclaimed. "Sorry!" As she looked up, she was struck by how green his eyes were and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

"No, it was my fault. I'm sorry Maddy! Are you all right?"

She smiled weakly at him. "Yeah, no problem. But, what happened to you?"

He shrugged it off. "Oh, nothing. Just a heavily thorned vine thought my arm would make a good meal."

Maddy scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Yuck. But, you'll be okay?"

Reynolds nodded and scooted past her. "I'll be fine."

He was making his way down the path when Maddy called to him. "Mark!

He turned around and looked back at her. She quickly jogged down the path to meet him. "Can we talk some time? About what happened?"

His green eyes grew a little harder and she could see the shame written all over his face. "Maddy I-"

"Don't… I don't want excuses. I just…" she paused as she felt tears filling her eyes again. "I just miss you, okay?"

He connected eyes with her again and his expression softened. "Hey," he reached out with one hand to wipe her tear away. "Don't cry Maddy. I'm just… it was my fault what happened and, well, I don't want it to happen again. I don't want to hurt you Maddy. I don't want to take advantage of you. I want us to have a good relationship. I'm supposed to be the one protecting you not… not hurting you."

She made a noise of incredulity. "You're hurting me now!"

He was silent for a moment, looking away and thinking. After a moment, he turned back to her and nodded. "Okay, let's talk. Tonight? At the orchard at 7?"

Maddy nodded. "Okay." She turned away quickly and entered the infirmary before she could change her mind. His green eyes followed her the whole way.

She immediately spied her mother standing in the farthest corner with a patient. Quickly, she moved so that a wall hid her from her mother's view. There was a nurse there who gave her a strange look.

"Did you need something miss Shannon? Your mother is directly across," she said, pointing past the wall. Maddy pulled her hand down, shaking her head.

"No, I don't want my mom to know I'm here. Can you do that? Please?"

The nurse frowned again. "What's this about?"

Maddy took a deep breath and then sighed heavily. "I… I need a… a, a pregnancy test."

The nurse fixed her with a look and then her expression softened. "All right. Don't worry, I won't say a word to your mother. And I'll omit it from your records. But, if you are pregnant you will need to let people know soon. And you'll have to start taking care of yourself properly."

Maddy nodded to all this. "Can we just do the test first?"

The nurse smile slightly. "Wait here."

She was back in no time with a hand held scanner. "Just don't move."

She swiped it over Maddy's body a couple times and then nodded. "It looks like there's a little one in there."

Maddy's eyes filled with tears in response and she covered her mouth.

"Looks like two months and 12 days along." The nurse looked up and reached around to grab a tissue, offering it to Maddy. "Look," she said gently. "You're pretty far along for not having any test or proper diet so you'll need to let your parents know as soon as possible so you can start getting the proper care. Understand?"

Maddy nodded weakly as she wiped her tears away. "Okay. Thank you."

With that, she was out of the infirmary as quick as she came.

Once outside, she ran as quickly as she could to the farthest corner of Terra Nova, a place where she doubted anyone would find her. And then she cried, long and hard. She knew she had to tell Reynolds. But, she didn't know what to expect from him. If he was so sensitive about having sex, how would he be when he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant? And her parents. Her Dad would probably kill Reynolds, maybe not literally but at least beat him up. And her mom… well, she just hoped her mom would be understanding. She didn't know what Zoe would think and she felt horrible for disappointing her family. Most of all, she felt horrible for messing up Reynolds life. This wasn't 2149, this was Terra Nova. There was no adoption, no option for abortion. And anyway, she was almost too far along for that. There was nothing she could do but have the baby and care for it. She knew her family would help. It would be more of a group effort, but she would always be the mother. She never wanted her life to end up this way…

Hours later, she finally made her way home. Darkness was falling and it was time for dinner. Her stomach was telling her so. She tiredly pushed open the door to their home and saw her mother standing at the counter preparing dinner. By the smell of it, it was almost finished. Josh was slouched into the couch with his guitar so it almost looked like it was eating him, and Zoe was on her knees at the coffee table, coloring a picture.

"Maddy!" her mom said as she saw her come in. "How was your day?"

Maddy smiled vaguely. "It was fine mom."

"Your teacher let me know you missed the last half of school today. Is everything all right?" She looked up from whatever she was stirring. Maddy smiled big, hoping to fool her mother.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just… uh, I wanted to go for a walk. It was such a beautiful day." Maddy cringed inwardly at the ridiculousness of her excuse but she hoping her mother would let it go in the interest of having a more private conversation later.

"All right," she said in response with a frown on her face. "But we'll talk later?"

Maddy nodded, pressing her lips together. She wanted to talk to her mom, she wanted to tell her, it's just, she knew how disappointed she was going to be.

At dinner Maddy was quiet, refraining from saying much of anything. Her dad noticed and asked about it but her mom thankfully shushed him. When dinner was over, she asked to be excused from clean up duty and promised to be home soon. Her mother obliged and Josh protested, of course, saying he should get the day off tomorrow. With a roll of her eyes, she left her family behind.

She saw Mark sitting in the orchard near the edge of the settlement before he saw her. He was sitting on a bench, leaning forward with his head in his hands, clad in green army pants and a black t-shirt. She sighed as she saw him but continued forward, trying to make up her mind to tell him the news. He looked up as she approached.

"Hey there," he said and gave her a small smile. She smiled back, genuinely.

"Hey." She sat down next to him on the bench but not close enough to crowd him. After a moment of awkward silence, Maddy said,

"Can we just go back to the way we were, before _everything _happened?"

He sighed heavily and looked away. "I wish we could Maddy, really."

That made tears come to her eyes again. "What does that mean?"

Hearing the tears in her voice, he quickly turned to her. "Oh Maddy, no, not like that. I still love you just as much as I did. Honest. Probably more." He sighed as he wrapped her into his arms. He smelled the flowery scent of her hair and felt the smallness of her body. His body responded to her and his mind realized how much he had missed her. Maddy started to cry in earnest. Mark started to brush through her hair with one hand, holding her close with his other strong arm.

"I'm sorry Maddy, I'm so sorry." He was whispering the words into her ear. "I'm sorry for taking your virginity, I'm sorry for being such an… ass. I'm sorry for not knowing what to do after everything happened. I'm sorry for pushing you away. I just, I didn't want to hurt you anymore."

His soothing voice in her ear seemed to calm her down somewhat and soon she was breathing normally again. She knew she had to tell him before she could lose her nerve. Pulling away, she looked him in the eyes. He smiled at her, glad to be holding her once again.

Just then, his communicator buzzed. He grimaced and looked at her apologetically, fishing in his pocket for it.

"Reynolds," he said as he answered it.

"Hey, Taylor wants to talk to you."

"Understood. Be there in five."

He smiled at her again and took her hand. "Sorry love, I have to go."

Maddy could barely contain her tears. "Do you have to go now?"

He laughed lightly. "I'll see you tomorrow, don't worry. And we're going to start over. We're going to try this again. At least, if that's what you want?"

Maddy tried to smile but it came out more of a grimace. She nodded.

"Good," he said and kissed her lightly on the forehead. He rose to leave and pulled Maddy up with him. "I'll walk you back to your house. It's on the way anyway. Okay?"

"Sure."

As they walked back, Maddy fought with telling him right then and there or waiting until after she'd told her parents. She knew she should tell him first but of all the times he had to talk to Taylor, it had to be now. He dropped her off at her house and gave her a quick kiss goodbye. She slowly, ploddingly, entered the house. It was apparent that her sister was asleep. Josh was probably either holed up in his room or at work and her parents were sitting on the couches talking quietly. Her mother smiled as she entered the house.

"Maddy! Hi honey." She smiled at her from the couch and then frowned as she looked at Maddy's face. She got up quickly, going to her and grasping her shoulders with her hands. "Maddy, what's the matter? Are you all right?"

That look and touch from her mother was all it took to have Maddy crying again. Her mother pulled her into a deep hug and held her close. She heard her dad get up and walk over too. She could tell her parents were silently communicating over her head. After a moment, she pulled back.

"Can we, talk for a minuet?" She sniffed and wiped her eyes. Her mom looked worriedly at her dad and nodded.

"Sure hun, whatever you need."

They made their way back to the couches and she sat between them, her dad draping an arm over her shoulders.

"What's up pumpkin?" He asked innocently.

She blew out a breath and decided to just lay it all out there without any pretense. "I'm pregnant."

She felt her dad's arm freeze on her back and more tears squeezed themselves out of her eyes.

"Come again?" Her dad asked, removing his arm from her back.

"I'm pregnant." She repeated, this time a little angrily.

"You, Maddy Shannon, my little girl, is pregnant?" The anger in his voice was clear.

"Yes," she said softly. "I went in today and they confirmed. 2 months and 12 days."

"I assume Reynolds is the father?"

Her mother seemed to be in shock, because she remained completely silent. Maddy nodded.

"I thought you weren't even seeing him anymore? I thought you broke up?"

"We did, but… well, it was before I knew. And I didn't want to break up either. And, we're back together now."

Her father let out a disbelieving laugh. "Does he know?"

Maddy shook her head and she felt her father rise from his seated position. She looked up to see what he was going to do. He had one hand over his mouth and the other behind his neck. His back to her, she could tell he was barely containing his anger. She wasn't afraid of him, but she was afraid for Reynolds.

"Please dad, I want to tell him. I just haven't had a chance-"

"No Maddy," her dad cut her off, "you don't have any say in this right now. Reynolds need some sense knocked into him because apparently he's lost it somewhere along the way."

He quickly made his way to the door, picking up his jacket on the way out. Her mother rose quickly to stop him.

"Jim… Jim! Stop! This isn't going to solve anything, you know that."

He turned back angrily. "Do I? Really? It'll make me feel a hell of a lot better."

"Jim, please, think about this. You need time to process. You're just being rash because you didn't expect this. Just take a breath."

He pressed his lips together and his eyes narrowed. "Take a breath? Take a breath? No, Reynolds got MY daughter pregnant and he's going to stand up for his actions, not hide away like a little boy. And I intend to make him do that."

With that, he was out the door and the heavy metal slammed into her mother's face. She jumped slightly and then sighed. Zoe stuck her head out of her bedroom at the same time Josh did from his.

"What's going on?" Josh asked. "What's up with Dad?"

"Just, go back to your rooms, both of you. He'll be fine. He just needed some air."

When Josh shot her an incredulous expression she gave in. "All right, everything's not fine but now is not the time to talk about it. We'll tell you in the morning."

Josh gave her another look but responded to her request and slid his door shut. Her mother disappeared to take care of Zoe for a moment. Maddy was left to herself on the couch.

OOOOO

Jim raced out of the house, almost at a run, his blood boiling. Why he had ever let Reynolds date his daughter was beyond him. He couldn't believe his smartest child could be so stupid. What had possessed her?

He made his way to Reynolds house as fast as he could, banging on the door when he got there.

"Reynolds?" He yelled. He heard sliding and scratching from inside, indicating quickly moving people. One of his roommates was at the door in seconds.

"Mr. Shannon, what can I…" he trailed off as he shoved him out of the way and stormed in.

"Where's Reynolds? Reynolds!" He called as he looked through the house. A moment later, a bleary eyed Reynolds slid open the door to his room.

"What in the name of-"

But he never had a chance to finish his sentence because the minute Jim saw him he hit him squarely in the face with a punch that landed him on the ground. Mark shook his head as he recovered from his shock and squinted his blurry eyes up at Jim.

"Mr. Shannon?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah, that's right. Maddy's dad, remember?" He reached down and roughly pulled him up by both arms, slamming him into the wall.

"What the hell did you think you were doing with my daughter?"

A round black and blue welt was starting to appear on his face. He looked at him, confused. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You sure as hell did something wrong." He slammed him against the wall again and then roughly released him, turning to pace the room. Only then did he notice his two other house mates had gathered at the door way, one of them holding a lowered gun.

"You want to put that down?" Shannon looked at him with fire in his eyes. The soldier looked at him with equal fire.

"No sir. Not until I know Reynolds is safe."

Jim sighed angrily and rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna kill him, if that's what your worried about. Even though I should. I warned you I carry a gun before any of this started. What good it did…"

Mark was starting to look angry. "Sir, you wouldn't come in here and beat me up without at least having a good reason. Give me the courtesy of knowing what I've done."

Jim took a few breaths, working his jaw as he thought and then he look at Mark straight on, his jaw set. "It's Maddy, she's pregnant."

At that, Mark's roommates slowly and quietly backed out of the room. Mark didn't seem to process the information the first time. He stood, dumbfounded, staring at Jim. Then, his stare grew intense again.

"She's… pregnant?"

Jim, who was pacing, lashed out. "Yes, she is. And it's your fault Reynolds. You were supposed to protect her." He stopped pacing and stood in front of him. "You were supposed to take care of her. I trusted you to take care of her." Jim looked like he was ready to throw another punch but this time, Mark looked ready to take one.

"Sir, if you want to punch me again please do. I deserve it."

Jim worked his jaw. "Don't tempt me."

He began to pace again and Mark stood at attention against the wall, waiting to see what Jim would say next. After a moment, Jim turned to him.

"Just WHAT were you thinking anyway? You're SEVEN years older than her, she's practically a baby, and I let you date her. I didn't forbid it, because you seemed like a man with his head on straight. Apparently I was WRONG! And what, you didn't even think about using birth control? It's not like it's hard to come by Reynolds. You're old enough to know. And that's no excuse by the way."

Reynolds set face barely twitched. "I know sir. It… it just sort of happened. We didn't plan it, in fact we planned the opposite. But…" He shook his head and let out a frustrated noise. "We got caught up in our feelings and I wasn't thinking straight. I have no excuse sir."

"Well, Reynolds, I have news for you. You've just irreversible changed your life and Maddy's life forever." He walked to Mark until he was nose to nose with him. Jim was taller, but in a fight they'd probably be equal. "This isn't 2149. This isn't the Earth we knew. This is Terra Nova. There is no adoption that happens here. There's no way out of this. This decision, this choice that you made without thinking has just changed your life forever. Do you understand that Mark?"

His firm soldier façade cracked as he truly realized the gravity of the situation. "YES SIR!" He responded loudly.

"AND," Jim continued with more force than before, "you have changed the life of my 16 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T SMART ENOUGH TO USE BIRH CONTROL." His breathing was coming quicker again and he quickly turned away, slamming his fist into the nearest wall, holding himself back from using Reynolds as a punching bag.

"DAMN IT REYNOLDS."

With the last utterance, he slammed both his forearms against the wall above his head and rested his forehead between them, feeling burning tears filling his eyes. He took a long moment to compose himself and then turned to Mark.

"Let's go. We have a lot to talk about."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

At the Shannon house, Maddy sat on the couch, waiting for her mother to emerge from Zoe's room. She did, a couple minutes later, and quickly came to sit next to Maddy, enveloping her in a firm hug.

"Maddy," she said into her ear. "I love you. And I love the baby inside you too. You're going to get through this you know. And you're going to have a child who will be beautiful. And we're all going to work together to take care of it. I know it seems overwhelming, but you're going to get through this." She pulled away and looked Maddy in the eyes, her own glistening with tears.

"This will change your life forever, Maddy, but it's going to be okay. And just because you have a baby doesn't mean you can't be who you want to be and do what you want to do. Especially now that we live in Terra Nova."

Maddy smiled slightly through her watery face and nodded. "I just didn't want it to happen this way. I wanted to have a normal family, the kind where the parents get married first, and then have children."

Dr. Shannon laughed lightly at that. "You know that normal is just a setting on the dryer… And anyway, I would hardly call our family normal, hey?"

Maddy smiled slightly again but the smile faded as quickly as it had come. "Mom, what will happen between Mark and me?" She looked up at her mother with questioning eyes and her mother gave her a sad smile.

"I can't answer that Maddy. Only you and Mark can decide that. My advice to you about that however, would be: make sure that whatever you decide, you're not deciding it because of mistakes you've made in the past but because of hope you have for the future."

Maddy nodded. "Do you think dad will kill Mark?"

Her mother laughed at that but stopped when she saw Maddy wasn't kidding. "Of course he won't. You're father has anger and passion, but he also has lots of love. It's because he loves so much that he gets angry. He's very angry with Reynolds for being, well… stupid. Mark is seven years old than you and plenty old enough to have his head on straight about these things. I think that's why your father is so angry. And, of course, because Mark has unwittingly changed your lives forever." Her mother gave her a sad frown. "This isn't something that can be taken back. It's not a mistake that can be changed. This mistake will quite literally change your life drastically from this point on." She shook her head. "Your father doesn't want you to have to experience that right now. You're too young. You're growing up too fast."

Maddy nodded and broke down in tears. "I know I am! And I don't want to!"

Dr. Shannon made a tuting noise and pulled her close again, holding her for a long time.

OOOOO

Sometime later, Jim ad Mark entered the Shannon house to find Dr. Shannon holding Maddy on the couch. The door opening alerted them to their entrance and Maddy pulled away from her mother, locking eyes with Mark. She immediately noticed the large, dark bruise on his face and his split lip.

"Mark," she exclaimed, "Are you all right?" She jumped up and walked to him quickly, running a gentle finger over the mark. Her eyes turned accusingly to her father. "Did you do this?" She asked.

"Maddy, I…" her father began but Mark cut him off.

"No, sir, it's okay. Maddy," he said looking at her. "I deserved this. If it was my daughter, I would have done the same thing." She moved to go to the kitchen but Mark stopped her with a gentle hand on her wrist.

"Maddy," he began as she turned back to him, his green eyes taking her breath away. "Stop. I'm fine. We have other things we need to talk about."

Maddy nodded curtly and he ushered her to a seat. There was an awkward silence and then Elisabeth broke it.

"So, I guess the main question is, how much are you going to be involved in your child's life Mark?"

Jim's face contorted. "He damn well better be-"

"JIM! That's enough," his wife directed and Jim set his lips into a thin line. She looked at Mark expectantly. "Mark?"

Mark took a breath, glanced at Maddy, and then looked at Jim and Dr. Shannon. "I would like to be as involved as possible ma'am. This baby is half mine and I don't intend to abandon it. He or she will need a father just the same as a mother."

Mark turned to Maddy and smiled slightly, but Maddy could see there was something else going on underneath his façade. Jim nodded.

"Good. I'd expect nothing less."

Dr. Shannon nodded. "All right then. I suppose you two have some catching up to do. We'll leave you to that."

"Um, Mr. Shannon, Dr. Shannon," Mark said as he rose from his seated position. "If you don't mind, I'd rather take Maddy for a walk."

Jim gave him a hard look but acquiesced. "I suppose she's already pregnant. What else can you do to her?"

Mark nodded curtly, turning to Maddy and holding out a hand. Soon, they were outside in the dark moonlight, making their way towards the orchard once again. Mark dropped Maddy's hand as soon as the house was out of sight. They silently made their way into the thicket of trees. Maddy could tell Mark was mulling over everything that had just happened. When they reached the bench, Mark ushered her to sit but stood up himself, pacing in front of her. After a moment he turned. The pain in his eyes was evident.

"You didn't think I would want to know you were carrying my child?"

Maddy started to defend herself but he cut her off with a sharp gesture. "No, Maddy. I think I deserved to be the first person you told. But you told your parents first, instead of me. I was completely in the dark when your father came bursting into my house. We needed to talk to your parents together! You needed to give me some warning, give me a chance to get used to the idea! But no, you didn't think about me. You were thinking about yourself and the baby." He started to pace again. "This is half my fault that that is half my child. I had just as much right as you to know about that baby. And you had no right to keep it from me, especially when you told your parents FIRST." He let out a frustrated noise and shook his head. "I really can't believe you Maddy. I know you're young but you have to start acting like an adult now."

That was obviously going too far and Maddy rose from her seated position, tears falling once again, and ran away from him through the orchard. Her plan was to either hid somewhere in the orchard or go home but she heard Mark close behind her and knew she would never be able to out run him.

"Maddy," he called and his voice sounded apologetic. "Maddy please stop!"

When she didn't, he continued to chase her and caught up with her after a moment, grabbing her around the waist to halt her momentum. She struggled in his arms for a moment but stopped when he didn't let go. He slowly released her, ready to reach for her if she bolted, but she didn't. She turned to him with sad eyes, anger written on her face.

"I'm SORRY," she said, half angry but he could tell she was being truthful. "I'm SORRY I didn't tell you first. I tried to tell you earlier tonight but you had to leave and I didn't know what to do. I couldn't wait. It was eating away at me and I just, I know at least my mom would be supportive and know what to do. I was so scared, Mark! I still am and I'm… I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Mark seemed to melt before her and he wrapped strong arms around her, feeling her shaking against his body.

"Oh Maddy," he began, "I'm sorry I was so angry. It's just a lot to take in. And it wasn't exactly the best way to find out either; your father coming to my door, practically breaking it down, and punching me in the face without me even knowing what had happened. It would have been nicer hearing it from you."

Maddy smiled a little at that, pulling away to inspect his face. It was hard to see in the darkness. Her eyes connected with his and she could see tears glistening in them.

"Maddy," he said, "I am so sorry for what happened. I am so sorry for being stupid and not thinking. I'm sorry for having sex with you in the first place but I'm most sorry about not using birth control." His expression was tortured. "I want to be part of this child's life and, well… I want to be part of yours also. Can you forgive me?"

Two tears dropped down his cheeks and she reached up to brush them away. "Oh Mark, I love you. I really do. I have for some time now. Having a baby isn't going to change that."

Mark gave her a sad but hopeful smile. "I'm glad you say that because, I love you too. But," he added and she looked at him expectantly, "no more secrets all right?"

Maddy smiled and nodded. "No more secrets."

OOOOO

The next day, Maddy and Mark met at the infirmary for Maddy's first check-up. Since it was the first, the appointment proved to be long. Her mother did most of the work-up; asking questions, prescribing supplements, giving nutrition tips. Then, her mother took a picture of the tiny fetus and downloaded it to their tags for them to keep. Mark was fairly quiet throughout the whole process, only breaking in to ask a few questions. When they were finished, Mark asked Maddy to lunch and they made their way to the market, hand in hand.

"So," Maddy began shyly, "our baby's pretty ugly huh?"

That brought a smile to Mark's face. "Yeah, well, I guess they're all ugly at that age."

Maddy laughed. "Yeah."

As they approached the market, Mark stopped her and turned to face her. He seemed to be fighting with himself about something. "Maddy, you know how we promised no secrets?"

Maddy frowned and nodded.

"Well," he continued, "I haven't been completely honest with you about something."

Maddy cocked her head to the side and looked at him questioningly. He sighed and ran a hand over his head.

"While we were apart, I was sort of… involved… with someone else."

Maddy's expression turned to hurt. "Like… heavily involved?"

"No, nothing like that." Mark shook his head. "We just talked a lot and… made out… a lot." He blew out a breath and, seeing the expression on her face added quickly, "but nothing more than that I swear!"

Maddy gave him a small smile but it slid off her face quickly. "Who is she?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged. "I don't know if you know her. She's a corporal, not in my team or it would be against the rules. Her name's Kandar, Laura Kandar."

Maddy looked at the ground, feeling tears coming to her eyes again. She brushed them away angrily and screwed up her face, looking up at him again. "Do you love her? Would you rather be with her than me?"

Mark's face melted at the expression on Maddy's and he gathered her into a hug. "Maddy," he said into her hair. "I don't think I've ever loved anyone as much as I love you. Laura was just a fling, she was my way of trying to work out my feelings. Not a good way… and I wouldn't rather be with anyone but you." He pulled her back by her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Okay?"

Maddy nodded. "Okay. It's in the past and we're together now, so that's all that matters."

He smiled, genuinely this time. "Good. And Maddy, just so you know, you're the only person I've ever had sex with."

Maddy looked at him in surprise. "Really? I was your first? You never had sex until me?"

Reynolds gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I know, hard to believe. But yes, I had never had sex until you."

Maddy stood in stunned silence for a moment and then a wide smile broke onto her face. "Okay, I don't feel so bad about this anymore."

They started walking towards the market again and Mark gave her a funny look. "You don't feel bad about what? Me having a fling? You being pregnant? Having sex?"

She laughed out loud. "All of them?"

He smiled.

"So, just to be clear, any more secrets I need to know about?" Maddy asked jokingly.

He smiled. "Nope."


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for all the great comments and helpful reviews. I'm glad you all like my story!

Chapter 3

That night, Maddy's parents had given her the task of telling Zoe and Josh, so Mark came over to their house to help Maddy prepare dinner. They had an enjoyable time flicking sauce at each other and generally wreaking havoc. Josh came home half way through their preparations and almost got bulls eyed with a bone meant for the trash can.

"Hey watch it!" He exclaimed as he entered the house. "What are you doing?" He came over to the counter to see what they were making and his mouth watered at the smell. He noticed Reynolds standing next to Maddy and looked at him in surprise. "I haven't seen you in a while. You two back together?"

Reynolds looked at Maddy sideways and then looked back to Josh. "Yeah, we're back together. In fact, that's why I'm here. There's more to the story, so we thought we would make dinner and share."

Josh raised his eyebrows. "K, whatever." He turned to go to his room but abruptly turned back, whirling on Mark. "Wait, you're not getting married are you?"

Both Mark and Maddy protested at the same time and then looked at each other in mortification. Maddy clarified.

"No Josh, we're not getting married. We'll tell you at dinner."

With a disbelieving expression, Josh disappeared into his room. Maddy looked sideways at Mark and raised her eyebrows.

When dinner was finally ready, everyone had returned home except her father. Liz called him on the communicator while they set the table, preparing the food just so. At least if the news was bad, the food could be good. Liz returned to the room, saying Jim was on his way. They all sat down, waiting for Jim. Maddy shook her leg nervously under the table. She hadn't seen her father since last night. Mark slid a calming hand down her leg and squeezed ever so slightly. After a moment, the door opened and Jim entered. He gave Mark a hard look and slammed the door behind him. Josh jumped.

"What's up dad?" He asked innocently. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Josh. Sorry I'm late," he said, laying his coat on the couch and sitting down next to Josh. "Shall we?" He asked, indicating the food.

After everyone had taken their first couple bites, Jim looked at Maddy. "So, you have some news for us?" It was clear to Maddy that her father was still angry. Her mother obviously felt it to because she kicked him under the table.

"I was going to wait until everyone was finished, Dad."

He nodded and continued to eat. When Maddy felt like everyone had eaten enough she cleared her throat. "Josh, Zoe: Mark and I have something to tell you. Mom and Dad already know." Josh put down his fork and Zoe looked at her expectantly. Mark glanced at Maddy and then said,

"Maddy's pregnant… we're pregnant." He looked at her again and then back to her siblings. Josh was staring at Reynolds with a disbelieving expression on his face. Zoe looked confused.

"Mommy," Zoe asked, "I don't understand. I thought people who are married have babies."

Jim threw up his hands and pushed himself away from the table, moving into the living room with his hands on his head.

"Well Zoe," Liz began as she watched Jim out of the corner of her eye. "Maddy and Mark made a mistake. They did something they weren't supposed to do and that's how Maddy got pregnant. So, people can have babies when they're not married they just usually have them after they're married."

Zoe thought about that for a moment. "So, are they going to get married?"

Liz bit back a laugh. "Well honey, I think that's something Maddy and Mark will have to work out. I don't know if they are or not."

Zoe pursed her lips, trying to figure out how all this fit together. "So, I'm going to have another sister?"

"No," Liz said with a smile on her face, "Maddy is your sister and it will be her daughter so it will be you niece."

"Oh." Zoe still seemed a little confused but she seemed to let it go, turning to Maddy. "Maddy, is your tummy big yet?"

Maddy smiled at her and shook her head. "Not yet, but probably soon."

Josh seemed to come out of his reverie just then and he looked at Mark incredulously. "You got my sister pregnant? How could you?"

Mark sighed and pressed his lips together, awaiting a similar reaction as Jim. He wasn't disappointed.

"You son of a bitch! That's my little sister! She's only 16, not even legally an adult, much less old enough to have a kid. I can't believe you man." Josh's voice was rising by the second and his father turned back to watch the interaction.

"You realize you've ruined her life forever right? She'll never get to be a kid again, and certainly never a teenager again. She won't be able to do what she wants because she'll be caring for your kid!" He stood up so quickly that his chair fell to the ground. Zoe started to cry and Liz stood also, trying to calm him down.

"Josh, listen to me, this isn't the way-"

"No, mom! This is Maddy we're talking about! How can you be so calm? And Reynolds!" He turned to look at him, still seated at the table. "What was that whole nice boy façade? The courting thing? Was that just a smoke screen to get us to trust you?" Josh shook his head, at the point of not knowing what to do with his anger. He looked ready to throw a punch but thought better of it when he compared himself to Reynolds. He settled for letting out an exasperated noise and leaving the house with a slam of the door behind him. Jim connected eyes with Liz.

"Like father, like son?" Liz asked softly.

Jim shook his head at her. "Don't, just don't." And with that, he too was out the door. A crying Zoe ran to her mother's arms and she scooped her up to cry on her shoulder.

"Why- is- everyone- so- angry!" Zoe asked between sobs. "I – thought- babies- were- good!"

Liz smiled and sent a smile towards Maddy and Mark also.

"It will be okay you two. The boys in this family just deal with things differently than we do. They'll get used to the idea. Don't worry."

Mark grimaced and Maddy sighed. "I guess I just didn't think Josh would take it so hard," Maddy said.

Liz laughed as she rocked Zoe. "Josh is more like your father than you know."

OOOOO

The next day was Monday again, so Maddy was back to school and Reynolds was back to work. Maddy had been helping with the teaching. The fact that Maddy was pregnant seemed to fall to the wayside, since no one at school knew. Home was another matter entirely.

Josh was avoiding her as much as possible and hadn't talked to her since the night before. Her father was equally silent, though not avoiding her quite as much as Josh. Maddy didn't mind that Josh was avoiding her but it hurt her deeply that her father was doing the same. Since Mark had to work late, Maddy turned in early, sitting on her bed next to Zoe, who was playing with her dinosaurs, waiting to be tucked in bed. She didn't notice Zoe watching her.

"Maddy," she asked after a moment, "can you feel the baby inside you?"

Maddy looked up from the book she was reading and smiled. "Not yet. Mom says I'll be able to pretty soon. And you might be able to fell it also."

Zoe smiled and let out a small laugh. "Really? That's so… weird."

Maddy laughed, her face breaking into a smile. Zoe put her dinosaur down and came over to Maddy's bed, sitting on her knees in front of her. "Can I listen?"

Maddy frowned at her. "Listen for what Z?"

She giggled again. "Listen for the baby!"

Maddy laughed also. "I don't think you can hear it, but you can listen if you want."

Zoe leaned forward, putting her ear to Maddy's stomach and listening for a moment. "Hello baby," she said softly, "I'm Zoe, your sister… no, your niece?" Maddy laughed and Zoe's head bobbed in reaction, making her laugh too.

"You are her aunt."

Zoe got up and cocked her head to the side. "But, aren't aunts usually older?"

Maddy gave her a sad smile. "Usually. But you get to be special."

Zoe seemed to like that and went down again, putting her ear to Maddy's stomach and continuing to talk. A moment later, the door to their room slid open, revealing her mother and father. Liz laughed out loud when she saw what Zoe was doing.

"Zoe, honey, what are you doing?"

Zoe looked up quickly and turned to them. "I'm talking to the baby!"

Liz couldn't help but smile and Maddy smiled back. Jim, however, looked ready to bolt again and, after a moment, he did just that. Liz sighed as she closed the door behind her and she saw Maddy's eyes begin to tear, Zoe's confused expression. She sat down next to them on the bed and pulled them both close.

"It's going to be all right Maddy, really. Your dad loves you, that's why this is so hard for him."

Maddy pulled roughly out of her mother's grip and shook her head. "No, if he loved me, he would let me know that he supports me and doesn't care that I'm having a baby. And he would forgive Mark."

Liz's expression was sad. "I know, but that's easier said than done. He feels partially responsible and every time he's reminded that you're pregnant he feels guilt."

Maddy looked at her, confused. "Why does he feel responsible? That doesn't make sense."

"Well," Liz began, "It does if you think about your father and who he is. He feels like it's his job to protect his family. He feels like it's his job to protect you from harm. He failed in doing that, he failed his duty. It may be silly, but that's the burden he puts on himself and that's why he feels this way."

Maddy sighed. "Well, he's just making things worse. If he would just accept the fact that I'm pregnant and move on, everything would be better."

Her mother hugged her again. "I know honey."

After a moment, Maddy pulled away and Zoe took Maddy's hand. "I love you Maddy," Zoe said, "and I don't care what Daddy thinks. I'm glad you're having a baby!"

A small tear fell from Maddy's eye and she smiled through it.

"And," Liz said, "I'm going to talk to your dad tonight, okay? We'll work through this. Don't worry."

OOOOO

Later that night, Liz did just that. She was lying in bed when Jim finally came home. He slid open the door to their room quietly, trying not to wake her, but she was wide awake. She turned to him and waved the light on. He blinked in surprise at the bright light.

"Where have you been?" She asked with a half worried, half accusing expression. He began to undress, pulling off his shirt.

"I just went for a walk. I needed to clear my head."

"Jim!" She said with a disbelieving tone. "Your daughter is pregnant! She hasn't killed anyone!"

He continued to undress, looking for all the world like he was ignoring her. After a moment he replied quietly, "I realize that Liz, it's just… it's hard that's all."

She sighed. "I know it's hard, believe me, but if you keep treating your daughter like this you're going to alienate her and you don't want that."

She could see Jim's jaw working from where she was sitting. "Maybe I do," he said, still facing the wall.

She looked at him disbelievingly. "You don't mean that."

He whirled to her. "Maybe I do! I failed her, Liz! I was supposed to protect her and I let her date that… that… _bastard _Mark without a second thought!"

"Jim!" she exclaimed at his outburst.

"What?" he threw back. "Are you going to tell me not to talk about him that way? Not to talk about the father of my daughters child that way? Because he deserves it!"

"How can you say that? You know they were just two kids who lost their heads! They're in _love, _Jim. They didn't commit a crime!"

"How can _you _say that?" he said, taking a step towards her. "The 'losing of their heads' is going to cost them, and the cost is steep. My little girl is going to be a mother. She's not ready! Do you remember when you were 16? I could barely take care of myself, much less anyone else! What's she going to do? She deserves every chance to become what she wants to become and now she's lost that chance! And all because _Mark_ didn't use his brain."

Liz got up slowly and looked at Jim with a sympathetic eye. "Jim… I _know_ how you feel, believe me. But alienating your daughter is not the way to deal with it. She needs you Jim, now more than ever. And Mark does to. They both have a long road ahead and we need to support them, whatever happens." He turned away, putting a hand behind his neck and letting out a breath. She sighed and continued.

"Jim, I know it feels like you failed Maddy and I know it feels like she's not going to be able to do everything she wants to with her life but, she _is _going to be able to do what she wants. We're going to help with the child and she'll have time to pursue whatever she wants to do."

Jim sighed heavily, looking out one of the high windows, his eyes glinting with moonlight. "It just feels like I should have seen this coming, I should have talked to Mark, I shouldn't have let them be so close."

Elizabeth smiled sadly and came to wrap her arms around his midsection. His arms came around her shoulders, pulling her in tight.

"We can't worry about the past. It's done, over with," Elisabeth said. "We have to move forward. I know you feel responsible because I do to, but pining over past mistakes isn't going to help Maddy now."

Jim sighed heavily and held her tighter. "I know. I just don't know what to do now."

"We'll figure it out Jim, one day at a time."

OOOOO

Two days later, Jim rose early and prepared a backpack of food. Then, ever so quietly, he entered Maddy and Zoe's room, sitting lightly on Maddy's bed and rubbed her back to wake her. When her eyes fluttered open, she was surprised to see her father sitting above her.

"Rise and shine pumpkin. I have a surprise for you."

She almost pulled the blankets over her head again but curiosity got the better of her. "Okay, I'll be up soon."

10 minutes later, she was dressed and standing in the kitchen putting her shoes on. "So," she asked her dad who was standing next to her, waiting. "Where are we going?"

He smiled at her and shrugged. "It's a secret."

She rolled her eyes at him but smiled anyway. She was glad he was acting normally again.

They made their way outside, where the sun was just coming up, checked out a rover, and were out the front gate before the sun had cleared the ridge to the east. Ten minutes later, they turned a corner and came upon a site that took her breath away.

Limestone rock formations jutted up from the ground all around them, many rising hundreds of feet into the sky. Deep green foliage; vines, leaves, and moss, covered the cliffs and were dotted in several spots with blush flowers, lavender roses, and smoky lilies. But beyond all this was the most breathtaking view of all: a large, wide water fall cutting its way between the cliffs and coming to rest in a deluge of spray and bubbles, the river created by the waterfall running past their rover.

"Oh dad," Maddy breathed, "It's beautiful!"

He smiled at her and took his gun, jumping out of the rover. "I thought so. And I knew you would love it too."

She smiled. He was more right than he knew. It was probably the most beautiful spot she'd been to yet. She climbed out of the rover to after him and they both grabbed supplies from the back of the truck. Her father laid out a blanket on the ground next to the river and set down a basket on top. He turned to her with a smile on his face.

"Breakfast at the river. What could be better?"

Maddy smiled and laughed. "Breakfast in bed?"

He raised his eyebrows in agreement and sat down on the blanket, getting out different foods and laying them on the blanket. Maddy sat down next to him, watching as he took out many of her favorite breakfast foods.

Turning to him, she asked, "How did you know so many of my favorite foods?"

He winked at her. "My secret."

"Mom," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Of course."

They sat in comfortable companionship as they ate and Maddy exclaimed at some of the new flavors that graced her favorite dishes. Her father said he'd made some of them himself. They spoke of mundane things like the coming day and the beauty of the water, the children at school and what they were learning. Maddy noticed her father was carefully avoiding the baby subject and wondered when he would bring it up.

After they had finished their food, her father reached into the bag and brought out a small woven sack. He looked at her and smiled, fingering the sack as he did. Then his face turned serious.

"Maddy," he said, turning so they were facing each other. "I know I've been less than understanding about… what happened. I was wrong and I'm sorry. I was so angry, I didn't know how to deal with it. I wanted you to still have the chance to be a kid and now… well, now you can't be." He paused as he saw tears fill her eyes. He sighed, holding the bag tightly. "I need your forgiveness Maddy."

She looked at him for a moment, one tear dripping down her cheek, and then she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, his arms coming around to hold her in response.

"Oh Dad, I forgive you. I'm sorry that this happened and I'm sorry I didn't think before I acted. I should have been smarter."

He tugged away from her and placed his arms on her shoulders, looking at her firmly in the eyes. "Maddy, I want you to know that you don't have to be sorry any more. What's done is done okay? This baby is coming and we're all going to love it. This is going to be a wonderful thing for us all okay?"

She nodded and he pulled his arms back to open the cloth bag, pulling out a ring made of silver ore and carefully sculpted to be in the shape of vines and leaves. He held it out to her. Looking at it carefully, she took it from him and watched as the sun glinted off it.

"Your mother and I bought this for you yesterday at the market. It took someone a long time to carve and many loving touches were put into it." He smiled slightly at his daughter who looked so much like his wife. "I want you to wear it, at least till the baby comes, because your mom and I will be with you the whole way okay? And we're going to put just as much love into you and the baby as was put into that ring okay? More!"

Maddy nodded, tears entering her eyes again. "Thanks dad, it's beautiful." She slipped it on her right hand index finger and it fit perfectly. She smiled. "Mom?"

Her father nodded. "Of course!"


	4. Chapter 4

Mark entered the ready room that morning, also at the break of dawn, to gear up for his first shift of the day. There was no one else in the room. He had just taken off his shirt and tossed it in his locker when he felt soft hands curl around his waist. He jumped in surprise and turned around quickly, not surprised when he saw Laura standing in front of him, a small smirk on her face.

"A little jumpy this morning, lieutenant?"

"Laura!" He said, surprised to see her at this time of the morning. "What are you doing here?" He quickly moved to don his uniform shirt but she pulled it from his hands and tossed it to the floor.

"You know what I'm doing here Mark." She started to walk towards him, which had him backing up until he hit the locker that was close behind him. She pressed herself to him and ran her fingers over his chiseled chest. He took a deep, surprised breath and quickly sidestepped her, pushing her lightly away.

"Laura, I'm really not in the mood okay? We need to talk."

She frowned at him as she moved towards him again. "Not in the mood? That's not like you Mark. Although, when I say 'in the mood' I use that phrase lightly of course, since we've never actually 'done it'." She smiled seductively. "First time for everything."

Coming towards him quickly, she planted a deep kiss on him and he responded by pulling back quickly, trapping her arms behind her back and keeping her from moving.

"Laura!" he said, looking down into her eyes. "Maddy and I are back together. I love her and we're done."

With that, he released her roughly and made his way over to his locker again, quickly pulling on his shirt. She turned to frown at him.

"You and Maddy are together again? I thought that was over for good?"

Reynolds continued to done his gear, glancing at his watch as he did. "We're back together for good. I shouldn't have broken up with her in the first place. I'm sorry I led you on Laura, it was completely wrong of me, but I have a girlfriend now so please, leave me alone."

He was doing up the straps on his armor as she nodded curtly. "Fine," she said, "I'll leave you alone. I just hope you're happy with that little girl Maddy. If you ever want a real woman, let me know."

With that, she was out the door. Reynolds shook his head and let out a heavy breath, hoping she actually did heed her own words.

OOOOO

That night, Mark had asked if he and Maddy could share dinner on the patio of their house. Both parents had agreed so Mark came early to prepare everything. He had bought several things from the market earlier in the day and he made a couple things himself. He didn't consider himself much of a cook but he was hoping Maddy would like what he'd made. He hadn't been able to see Maddy the day before because of work constraints.

Maddy's mom had sent her on an errand to keep her out of the house while Mark was setting up, and at exactly 6 o'clock she entered the door, carrying the packages her mother had requested. Mark had hid himself on the patio, waiting for Liz to usher Maddy to said place. After a moment, he heard footsteps approach the door and it slid open, revealing Maddy. She smiled wide when she saw Mark and he mirrored her reaction.

"What's all this?" she asked in surprise.

He smiled as he came over, shutting the door and wrapping her in a hug. "It's for you. I thought we should have a celebratory dinner in honor of our child and in honor of our relationship." He pulled away and took both of Maddy's hands in his. "Maddy Shannon, may I have the honor of dating you again?"

She laughed. "Of course!"

He smiled and leaned down slowly for a kiss. When their lips met, Reynolds could feel the familiar fire coursing through his veins. It was so different than kissing Laura, so much more real. They hadn't kissed in so long, months, it felt so foreign and yet so familiar. He opened his mouth to deepen the kiss and started to move his hands over her back. He could feel her responding to him. And then, suddenly, she pulled away, looking shy.

"Uh, Mark?" She screwed up her face and looked at him. "Sorry but, this is what got us in this mess in the first place right? So, maybe we should take it easy?"

He blew out a breath, calming his racing heart. "You're right Maddy, I'm sorry."

She laughed, hitting him lightly. "Don't be sorry. And anyway, the food is getting cold."

He had to agree with her on that one so they sat down to start eating their food.

"So," Maddy began, "My dad took me out this morning to the most beautiful place that I've seen yet."

He pretended to be upset. "I thought I took you to the most beautiful place, on our first date alone."

She smiled at him, swallowing her bite of food. "That _was_ the most beautiful place, until my dad took me there." She sighed, thinking about it.

"Well," he said, "I'll have to take you there sometime."

She smiled and nodded. "I would like that. He also gave me this." She held out her hand so Mark could observe the ring that was on her finger. He took her hand and examined the ring carefully, raising his eyebrows.

"It's beautiful Maddy. It must have cost a fortune. Why did he give it to you?" He dropped her hand and watched her.

"Well, he said that he and mom had bought it for me yesterday from the market so that I would know they'll always be there for me and the baby." She smiled at Mark. "He also said something about lots of love being put into the making of this ring and likening it to the love they'll put into us." She giggled. "It was really sweet."

He smiled genuinely. "You're really lucky to have such an awesome family Maddy."

"Yeah, well, we have problems too, obviously… but I am really lucky."

After they had finished eating and put away the spare food, Mark went to sit with Maddy on the couch, putting an arm around her and pulling her into him. She seemed a little tense when he did that, but she soon relaxed.

"Mark?" she asked after a moment.

"Hm?"

"Are you scared?"

"What do you mean, scared of having a kid or scared of dating you again or scared of living here?"

She laughed lightly. "I didn't know there were so many options… but, yeah, scared of having a kid."

He let out a grunt. "Yeah, of course I am. I'd be a fool not to be." He took a breath. "It's gonna be a big challenge. And it's not just going to go away in a year or two; it's going to be around forever. Which…" he laughed a little hysterically, "is more than a little scary. I think I'd rather face a pod of veloci raptors head on." He paused and then quickly added, "But that doesn't mean I don't want the baby! I do! It's just… it's a huge life change that's all, one I'm not sure if I'm ready for."

Maddy breathed deeply, trying to quell the butterflies that were invading her stomach. "Well, I know we're not ready for it. But, Mom says that no one ever is."

"I believe that," he responded emphatically. They sat in silence for a long moment and Mark couldn't stop thinking about his encounter in the locker room with Laura. He knew he should tell Maddy, knew he should be completely honest, but for some reason he didn't want to be. He knew she wouldn't care, it wasn't his fault anyway, but something was holding him back. After a moment of fighting with himself, he turned to her, determined.

"Maddy, I have something I need to tell you."

She turned to him, his arm sliding from around her, her expression concerned. "What's up?"

He took a deep breath. "You remember I told you about Laura? The one who I had a… fling with?" She nodded, frowning. "Well," he continued, "I was changing into my gear this morning and she pretty much ambushed me in the locker room."

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by ambush?"

He steeled himself. "She… kissed me, pretty hard core." Seeing her face fall he continued quickly. "But, I pushed her away as soon as she started and told her that we're back together and that I love you. She said she'd leave me alone but, I don't know if that's true or not."

Maddy fought to keep the tears from coming again. She couldn't descent into tears every time something happened. "If she doesn't leave you alone, what are you going to do?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know, probably talk to Taylor or something."

Maddy didn't look encouraged but decided to let it go. "Okay, just don't forget to tell me if something like this happens again." Reaching up a hand, she ran her fingers lightly over his cheek. "I want you all to myself. No sharing."

Mark smiled as he grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Absolutely no sharing."

OOOOO

The rest of the week was uneventful. Mark and Maddy went to school and work, Josh continued his silent treatment of both of them, even though Mark came for dinner every night. Zoe was happy, as was her mother, and her father was doing much better. He hadn't quite been able to talk to Mark normally but her mother said that would come with time. Soon enough though, they had to begin thinking about telling other people and decide what they were going to do.

It was Sunday night and they were just finishing dinner. Josh had left early, as usual, to avoid talking with Mark. Elisabeth asked Zoe if she would take a shower while they had some grown-up talk and she obliged, with the promise of sweets later.

"So," Liz began, looking at Mark and Maddy. "When are you going to start telling people the news?"

There was an uncomfortable silence while Mark and Maddy glanced from each other and back to her parents.

"Well," Maddy began, "I suppose there's no reason to keep from telling them now is there? I mean, will we be in trouble?"

Liz looked at Jim for the answer and he shrugged. "Hard to say. Taylor has some pretty stringent rules but I doubt teenage pregnancy made the list." He looked over at Mark. "You, on the other hand, may have something to worry about. I don't know what he'll do when he finds out you're the father."

Mark pressed his lips together. "Yes sir, I know he'll be hard on me. I just hope he'll let me keep my job." Jim raised his eyebrows in agreement.

"So," Liz broke the silence, "does that mean you should tell Taylor first Mark?"

He nodded. "Yes Ma'am, that's probably the best plan of action. I wouldn't want him hearing it from anyone else."

"Okay," Jim said, "And then… we'll just tell people when it comes up?"

Maddy nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's fine. I just don't know how I'm going to tell people at school. And what will their reaction be?"

Her mother smiled slightly. "You'll be all right honey."

Jim glanced at Liz and then began in a slightly uncomfortable tone, "So, I know you have some time before the baby comes but… well, you two are going to have to figure out how you want living arrangements. And I'm not saying you can live together if you're not married because that's not an option." He gave Mark a stern look which he nodded to. "What I am saying," he continued, "is that you need to decide how we're going to split responsibility for the child, between me and your mom and you and Mark. Your mom and I will help out as you need it but we are expecting you two to be the primary care givers for the kid."

Maddy and Mark both nodded in response. "We'll talk about it sir," Mark responded.

"Good." Jim raised his eyebrows and looked at Liz, who poked him in the side and gave him a covert look. He seemed unwilling but turned to Mark anyway.

"Mark," he began. "I'd like to talk to you for a while so… you wanna take a walk?"

He nodded and stood. "Of course sir."

Jim stood and looked at Liz, raising his eyebrows again. She smiled at him encouragingly. "Have fun," she said.

"Oh, we will," Jim replied at they made their way out the door.

OOOOO

The night was cool and a light breeze played on Jim's exposed skin. Reynolds walked next to him, obviously uncomfortable, straight at an arrow and looked for all the world like he was on military patrol. _Good,_ Jim thought, _let him squirm._

Jim cleared his throat. "So, Mark, I know we haven't talked since I beat you up in your house, which you deserved by the way, but I just wanted to make it clear that you're half responsible for this child."

Mark nodded. "Yes sir, I know that sir and I intend to take full responsibility."

"Good," Jim said as he glanced sideways at Mark. "When did all this happen, so I can avoid the same mistake with Zoe."

Mark glanced at him and then looked back to the path they were walking on. "Um… well sir, it was the day of the harvest festival. Maddy and I had gone to the festival together, danced, ate lots of food of course." He smiled at he remembered it. "It was a great night, probably one of the best in memory." He thought about it for a moment more and then the smile slid off his face. _That was the day we were all at the festival until late_,Jim thought,_ the house was empty and when we got home Maddy was already in bed. They broke up the next day._

"We went for a walk to get away from all the noise. We ended up on the porch, sitting on the swing. We were just talking and laughing. After a while, I needed to use the bathroom and Maddy was thirsty so we ended up going inside. I realized there was no one home so fully intended to use the bathroom and then go back to the festival but… things didn't work out that way" He paused as he remembered who he was talking to, but he plunged onward.

"So, I came out of the bathroom and Maddy offered me some pie, which, of course, I couldn't resist."

_I don't blame him for that one,_ Jim thought, _Maddy does make damn good pie._

"That was my first mistake. We sat down on the couch, which was my second mistake, and ate the pie. Then, well, we started kissing and kissing became making out and making out became feeling and-

"OKAY," Jim said loudly, "I get the picture."

Mark steeled himself and looked straight ahead. "Sorry sir. If you want to punch me again, you can sir."

Jim let out an exasperated sigh. "It's like you like getting beat up!"

"Well, sir, if it makes you feel better and it makes me feel like I'm atoning for my actions, what's the harm?"

Jim sighed loudly. "Mark," he said, a little annoyed, "physical violence doesn't solve anything. I hope you know that."

Mark looked at him and stopped walking. "Of course I do sir. I hope you don't think that I would ever hurt Maddy in any way-

"Well you've already hurt her. But I swear Reynolds if I ever find out you've hurt her in any other way, I'll hunt you down and have Taylor banish you, understand?"

Reynolds turned forward again, looking straight ahead. "Yes Sir."

Jim looked at him and sighed, trying to make himself not be so hard on him. It was difficult but, as his wife had said, he needed to be supportive and help Mark see him as someone who was on his side. After all, he didn't have anyone else.

"Look Mark," he said, making himself use his first name, "it's been hard for me to forgive you for what you've done but, my wife tells me I have to do it."

Reynolds continued to look forward as he listened.

"I love my daughter. She's my little girl and you've changed her future. It's still to be seen if it's good or bad, but you have a big part to play in whether it's good or bad."

"Yes sir, I know that."

"Good, then you also know that I'm going to expect you to be involved in the kids life, no matter what happens down the road."

"Yes sir."

Jim sighed. "Mark, look at me."

He obliged and Jim fixed him with a slightly softer stare. "I know this has to be just as hard for you as it is for Maddy. I can't imagine what I would have done if I were in your shoes at your age."

"Thank you sir."

"I know you and Maddy have decided to get back together. But, what I want you to know is, I don't want you tying the knot just because you have a kid. It's not a good reason. I only want that to happen if you think you can love her for the rest of your life. And I don't want you to do it on a whim either. You need to take time to consider your relationship, kid not involved, to see if it's something worth saving."

Reynolds seemed to be mulling this over, because his eyes had fallen from Jim's face, though his posture was still as upright as ever.

"And in the meantime," Jim added firmly, causing Mark to look up at him again, "no funny business. Maddy may be pregnant but that's no excuse. Sex is a lot more than just feeling good. It's not a responsibility you want to take on until you're ready; relationally ready, I don't care how old you are. Do you understand me?"

Mark nodded, his eyes firm. "Yes sir, I do."

"Good." Jim turned to start walking again and Mark followed. Jim knew Elisabeth would not approve of their one sided conversation so he dug deep and tried to find some love for the man who had impregnated his daughter.

"So Mark," he said as they walked down the path, "why don't you tell me something about yourself, I feel like I hardly know you…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next day Mark had to tell Taylor about Maddy's pregnancy. He had suited up for duty and went up the stairs to Taylor's office. It was still about a half hour before he had to be there so he figured he had plenty of time. Having his armor on was just an added bonus, in case Taylor felt like beating him up. As he went up the stairs, he felt his heart beating almost out of his chest. He had done very little in his time in Terra Nova that would disappoint Taylor, and he'd never done anything that would have gained him Taylor's wrath. He honestly had no idea what to expect. If other guys' stories were anything to go by, he had _a lot _to worry about.

He paused at the wooden door, taking a deep breath to calm himself, and raised a hand to knock. He repeated this action three or four times before he finally knocked hard.

"Come in," Taylor said loudly and he pushed open the swinging door. The office was empty with Taylor standing at one of the windows, looking out his pair of binoculars. He turned to him as he entered, walking over to put the pair down.

"Reynolds! What brings you here on this fine morning?"

Mark swallowed hard and pressed his lips together, coming to attention and saluting. "Commander Taylor, Sir!"

Taylor frowned at him. "At ease, soldier. What's this about?"

Mark put his hands behind his back, still standing straight as an arrow. "I'm afraid sir, I come with bad news. I've done something… worthy of punishment."

Taylor narrowed his eyes and came towards him, around his desk. "I suppose there's a first time for everything." He stopped right in front of Mark, their heads on the same level. "What have you done, son?"

Mark's next breath came out a little shaky and he swallowed again. "I've gotten someone pregnant, sir."

Taylor looked at him carefully, scrutinizing him. "I assume that means you got Maddy Shannon pregnant?"

Mark nodded curtly. "Yes sir."

Taylor turned away from him and rubbed his chin with his hand. After a moment, he turned back. "Does her family know? Does Jim know?"

He nodded again. "Yes sir. They've known for about a week now."

Taylor started to pace around his office slowly, looking deep in thought. After a few minutes, he turned to Mark. "It seems to me that Shannon probably already gave you what you deserve physically." He pointed to the still dark bruise around Mark's eye. "I assume that's from him?"

Mark nodded.

"But I have to say, I'm disappointed. You're a man with his head on straight, Reynolds, or so I thought. And she's a girl who's a hell of a lot younger than you are. You're responsible for her and you pretty much threw that responsibility right back into her parents faces." He shook his head and turned away, anger clearly growing at he considered Mark's situation.

"I don't know what would possess you to have sex with a girl that much younger than you. And I can't believe Shannon didn't kill you. As a soldier, you must be above your physical desires and urges." He turned back to him. "As a man and a soldier, you have a responsibility to take care of your woman and defend her, especially from yourself. Jim trusted you to take care of his daughter and you threw that trust right out the window, Mark." His voice was getting louder as his anger increased.

"You should thank whatever god you believe in that it wasn't my daughter you got pregnant because you'd be banished before you could say baby. You're 23, for the love of AIR, REYNOLDS! You're SEVEN YEARS OLDER THAN HER! Why Shannon let you date her in the first place is beyond me but his trust was obviously misplaced! I gotta say, I had you pegged as a man I could trust my daughter with, but it seems I had you wrong, Mark. It seems you're driven more by your passion than your head! No soldier of mine can let their passion rule their lives, do you understand that?"

Mark stood stock still. "YES SIR!"

Taylor came to stand in front of him and looked for all the world like he was going to punch him. Mark braced himself for it and was surprised when it didn't come. Taylor's jaw was working, clenching and unclenching as he looked at Mark. Finally, after a few moments of Taylor obviously fighting with himself, he set his face, staring Mark down.

"I should have you thrown in the brig and left there until this time next year." Mark's face twitched, hoping Taylor wasn't seriously considering that. "As it is, I expect you to be around when the baby's born and I expect you to take complete responsibility for it. So, this is what I've decided on." He turned away and walked slowly over to his desk, standing behind it and turning to him. "Since you obviously need help working out excess passionate energy, that's what we're going to do for the next month; work it out."

Mark felt his organs sinking to the ground. When Taylor said 'work out' it didn't mean an hour run every morning. Oh no, it meant something so much more than that. Taylor had a reputation for taking soldiers to the brink of death by exhaustion just to teach a lesson and Mark knew he was in for it.

"Starting today, you and I are going to spar every morning at 5."

Mark inwardly cringed. What that actually meant was, Mark was going to be essentially beaten every morning until Taylor saw him fit to be released. Taylor was best by far at sparing and no one, not even Wash, could beat him. It had been 20 years since anyone had landed him on his back and it wasn't for lack of trying.

"You'll be suspended from active duty as of right now, and only called if the situation warrants it. After our sparing sessions, you'll be assigned housing and construction duty. They've been working from sun up to sun down to get ready for the next pilgrimage so you'll be joining them. Once you've finished with construction, I expect you to join the Shannon's for dinner and spend some time with your 'mother to be'. I'll be speaking to Jim Shannon about the nature of that 'time'. Then, I'll see you back in my office at 10 for some combat training." Taylor looked hard at Mark and Mark stared back with equal intensity. "This will continue until I feel you're sufficiently disciplined. Understood?"

Mark, who was still reeling from the implications of the punishment, was slow to answer and Taylor marched to him quickly, grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him. "Is-that-clear-soldier?" He said, slowly and deliberately. Mark stood at attention and saluted, Taylors arms falling away.

"YES SIR!"

Taylor nodded. "Good. I'll see you in the gym in half an hour. Dismissed!"

With that, Mark left the room, a sinking feeling in his gut. Taylor was like a father to him, but he could be a downright son-of-a-bitch when he wanted to be. Mark hoped his anger would allow him to block at least some of his blows today.

At seven o'clock, Mark met Taylor at the base of the stairs to make their way to the Shannon's house. He looked a mess and he knew it. He had taken a shower after his construction duty, but his body was covered in bruises of different sizes and shapes from sparing this morning. Taylor had even managed to draw blood at one point, using the end of his stick to push him back and scratching the skin right off his deltoid. He had a gaze patch over it now. Taylor was not without bruises himself, which Mark prided himself on. Taylor didn't seem to mind.

His whole body was sore from construction. Even though he was used to physical labor, this was different than soldier duty. It was even different that working out and lifting weights. And normally, work outs didn't last 8 hours. He dreaded the next day, when he was expected to be there at sun up.

They trudged their way towards the Shannon's house, Mark dreading Maddy's reaction and Taylor moving with grim certainty. Taylor knocked on the door and Jim answered.

"Taylor! Is there something wrong?" His expression radiated concern.

"No, no. I just came to talk about Mark and the things that seem to be happening with your family. I wanted to let you know what his punishment is and see how you folks are doin'."

Jim nodded, noticing Mark standing behind Taylor for the first time. "Come on in."

They walked in and as Mark walked past Jim, he frowned at him, taking in the large, long bruise that covered his face from ear to chin. That particular bruise had been a complete accident, or so Taylor said, and they had taken a moment to put a slave on it before continuing. 'No sense in having a puffy face,' he had said.

"So," Jim began slowly, looking at Mark in concern. "What happened to you?"

Mark gave him a tight smile as he finished taking off his shoes. "Part of my punishment sir."

Jim looked at Taylor in alarm. "Part of his punishment is being beaten?"

Taylor laughed lightly at Jim's expression. "Aw come on Jim, he's a soldier. He's trained to handle things like this." When Jim's concern just increased Taylor continued. "Part of his punishment is sparing with me every day. It'll help him train and maybe it'll knock some sense into him at the same time."

Jim's expression lightened just a little, but there was still concern behind his eyes. "You actually gave him a weapon do defend himself with right?" He was half kidding but, by the look of the kid, he just wanted to make sure.

Taylor clapped a hand on his arm. "Don't worry. He had just as much fighting chance as I did. And," he continued, pulling up the t-shirt he had on to reveal a nasty, long bruise on his stomach, "he got in his fair share of blows."

That seemed to make Jim feel better and he let the subject drop. Mark found his concern touching.

"So," Taylor started again. "Where is everyone?"

Jim made his way to the table, motioning for them to sit. "Uh, well, I think Maddy's in her room with Zoe, Josh is working, and Liz should be home any minute. We'll eat when she gets home. Do you guys want to stay?"

Taylor shook his head. "No, I got some things to do but Mark here will stay. That's part of his punishment, having dinner with you folks every night. If that's all right, of course."

Jim tried to bite back a laugh but it escaped anyway and he looked at Mark. "So, having dinner with us is a punishment huh?"

Mark immediately tried to backpedal from what Taylor had said and Taylor himself looked amused at Mark's mutterings. Taylor clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Mark, relax." He turned to Jim, smiling. "I'm removing him from duty and giving him different assignments that I hope will teach him to keep his passions a little more controlled. He'll be sparing with me every morning and joining the construction crew every day. At night, he'll be joining you folks for dinner and spending a little quality time with your daughter. That's mainly what I wanted to talk to you about." He sighed and sat back in his chair. "I want them to be able to spend time together but I don't think they deserve the right to have that time to themselves just yet. So, what I'm thinking is, they can spend time together here at your house as long as someone is present to chaperone; that means either you or Liz. If neither of you are available, he gets sent to my office to wait for his nightly training." Taylor looked at Jim. "Is that acceptable to you, Shannon?"

Jim seemed to approve of the punishment. "That sounds fair. I think Liz and I can manage to do that. Just don't kill him. We all want him around in the future."

Taylor laughed and Mark smiled a little, grateful he was still wanted regardless of what he'd done.

"Well then," Taylor said as he rose, Mark rising with him, "I'll be off then." He turned to Mark with a stern expression on his face. "You behave yourself. If I hear you've set even a toe out of line-

"I'll be good sir, don't worry," Mark said quickly. Taylor looked like he might get mad at him for cutting him off, but he smiled and nodded curtly.

"All right then. Shannon," he said, turning to Jim, "I expect a full report."

Jim smiled slightly and also rose from his seat. "Yes sir."

With that, Taylor made his way out the door, passing Elizabeth on her way in. She came in looking surprised.

"What was he doing here? Hi Mark!" She added as she noticed him standing by the table.

"Oh, just letting me know what Mark's punishment is," Jim said as he kissed her lightly and smiled. She came farther into the house, heading for the sink to wash her hands. She looked up from scrubbing them and noticed Mark's face.

"Mark!" She exclaimed as she quickly wiped her hands on a towel and rushed over to him. At the sound of her mother's voice, Maddy slid open the door from her room and smiled when she saw Mark, walking over to him. Almost immediately, she too noticed the dark bruise on his face.

"Oh my gosh, Mark, what happened?" She looked into his eyes with concern as her mother gingerly felt the bruise, trying to make sure the bones and cartilage underneath were still intact. He looked down at Maddy, his expression serious.

"I'm fine Maddy, really. Don't worry. I've already put a slave on it that hopefully kept down the swelling. I think it's probably worse than it looks."

Elizabeth tutted as she felt his face and shook her head. "You are a very lucky boy." She pulled away and went into her room briefly, immerging with a first aid kit. "That could have been very nasty. Your face could easily have been shattered." The concern was evident in her voice. "Who did this do you?" She asked as she pulled out more slave to put over it.

Mark's eyes looked at Jim for help explaining and Elizabeth took it the wrong way. She whirled around faster than Maddy had ever seen her move and looked at her husband in disbelief.

"You didn't," she said in a low tone. Jim was about to defend himself when Mark quickly jumped in.

"No, no, Dr. Shannon, it was nothing like that. It was Commander Taylor. And," he said, cutting off another spew of remarks, "it's not what you think. He gave me some punishments for my actions and one of them is sparing with him every morning. He's pretty much unbeatable when it comes to sparing and he got in a blow."

Liz looked a little relieved but still looked quite appalled. "He hit you on the _face_?"

Mark still looked completely serious and Maddy wondered what had gotten into him. "It was really my fault, Ma'am. He was going for a blow to my stomach and I knew I wouldn't have time to block so I tried to drop to the floor, only I didn't drop far enough fast enough and I ended up getting a stick in the face instead."

Liz sighed as she finished doctoring his face and started putting away the first aid kit. "All right well, you just let us know if things get out of hand, understand?"

He looked at her and nodded, but Maddy could tell he was lying.

"So," Elizabeth asked Jim, "Is Josh coming home for dinner?"

"Yeah, I think so. He said he'd be home around 6:30." Jim moved over to the kitchen with Liz and they began getting out supplies for dinner.

"Do you need any help Mr. and Mrs. Shannon?"

They both shook their head. "No," Liz answered, "You two just sit on the couches and rest a bit. You look like you're ready to collapse Mark."

In truth, he felt ready to collapse. He didn't realize he was showing it, though. Maddy gently took his hand, looking up at him and smiling. He didn't smile back and she frowned to herself, concerned. They both sat down on the couch, next to each other, and he dropped her hand once they were seated. She could feel there was something wrong.

"What is it?" She asked softly. He blew out an obviously frustrated sigh and leaned back in the couch, letting his tense body relax. A moment later, he sat forward again, unable to ease his tense muscles.

"It's just… Taylor's punishment seems a little severe. It means that for the next month, or however long he decides, I'm going to have no time to myself and little time for sleeping. I'm going to be beat up out of my mind in the morning and then have to work 12 hour days at construction, and then he expects me to do combat training at night after everything else. I just don't know how I'm going to survive it Maddy. And I just…" He scrubbed his face with his hands, trying to let go of his anger. It was a losing battle.

Maddy watched him as he struggled with his emotions, feeling tears spring to her eyes. This wasn't just his fault and yet he was taking much of the blame. He was the one getting beat up, he was the one getting yelled at, he was the one being punished. It hardly seemed fair.

"It's not like I killed someone," he said, holding back from shouting it because Maddy's parents were standing so close. "It's not like I even did something that was so wrong. And most of the consequences will come as a natural result of what we did so I just…" he cut off what he was going to say with a growl and linked his hands behind his neck, looking at the floor.

Maddy didn't know what to say. She understood the truth of what he was saying but she didn't know what to do about it. She also could tell he was mad at her for some reason she couldn't fathom, and she didn't know that anything she would say would make a difference. They ended up sitting in silence until dinner and then proceeded through dinner with most of the talking done by Zoe and her mother, with a few snippets by her father.

Soon enough, it was time for Mark to go and he gave her a quick hug before leaving, neglecting to kiss her as he usually did. He seemed in a hurry to leave. Maddy helped her mother clean up the kitchen as it was their turn.

"Mom," she began, scrubbing the plate as her mother waited to dry it. She answered with a small noise and Maddy continued. "Do you think Mark's punishment is a bit… harsh?"

Her mother sighed sadly and nodded. "Yes, I do sweetheart. But he's a soldier and Taylor is his commanding officer. He's held to a different set of values than you or me. And he's responsible for his actions in a different way than we are."

Maddy sighed also. "But, it still doesn't seem fair! Tonight he was so angry about it all he could barely talk about it. He's angry that he has such a harsh punishment and he's angry that he's the only one being punished." She paused as her mother turned to look at her. "Mom," she said turning to her, "I think he's mad at me because I'm not being punished at all."

Her mother put down the plate and pulled her into a hug. "Oh Maddy. It does seem unfair but you're pregnant and in a relatively delicate physical condition. You're also not a soldier and you're only a kid." She laughed a little as she protested. "Believe me, I don't think you're a kid any more, you can't be. But, as we've been through before you are much younger than him and you're a minor. That makes it a very awkward situation for Taylor. He has to make sure Mark's punishment is severe enough that other soldiers aren't going to go around doing the same thing. And," she said, cutting off Maddy's protest, "he has to make sure Mark is responsible for what he did."

She pulled away from her. "But mom, he is responsible! And we're going to have to take care of the child for the rest of our lives. Isn't that punishment enough? I mean, not that we won't love it and care for it but-

Her mother cut her off. "I know what you mean honey. Mark is Taylor's responsibility and we have to respect his decisions for now. It's only for a little while anyway. And we'll keep an eye on him and make sure Taylor's not being too hard on him okay?"

Maddy seemed unsatisfied at that answer but nodded her head anyway. "Okay."

OOOOO

Mark marched away from the Shannon house as quickly as he could, making his way straight to Taylor's office. He didn't know what had set him off so much. Maybe it was the full day of work and the beating he'd received that morning, maybe it was the Shannon's doting, and maybe it was realizing how royally screwed he really was, but whatever it was had him in a foul mood. He knew he had to leave the house as quick as possible so he didn't say or do anything he would regret later.

As he walked, he mulled over things in his head. He really was angry at Maddy. He knew he shouldn't be, it was a stupid reason. He was angry because he seemed to be getting all the punishment and Maddy seemed to be getting none of it. Of course, he knew he was mostly responsible for what had happened for all the reasons that Taylor had mentioned; he was a soldier, he was seven years older, he was a man, blah blah blah… He knew it was true, he just wished it wasn't so one sided. It was hardly fair.

He noticed belatedly that he'd walked right through the main square without stopping. He growled to himself, turning back quickly. Fists curling, he looked forward to combat training. Maybe it would make him feel better. A moment later, he heard someone call his name. Turning around, he saw Laura leaning against the side of her house in the semi-darkness, smirking at him.

"Rough night?" she asked, having noticed his posture and curled fists.

He shook his head to himself and turned to continue on his way. She quickly ran to catch up and started to keep pace with him. "Do you wanna talk about it?" The way she drew out her syllables told him she was making fun of him. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a long breath.

"Laura," he said firmly when he trusted himself to speak, "now is not the time. Please, just leave me alone."

She saw the fire in his eyes and she knew she should go, but she couldn't resist him when his defenses were so low. "I didn't see you on patrol today."

He continued walking. "Yeah, Taylor's got me on construction duty for probably the next month."

"Construction duty huh? Wow… lucky you." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "So, you said you're back together with Maddy. I guess that means you're having sex again?"

She could see his jaw clench as he resisted the urge to push her away from him. "No," he said through clenched teeth. "It may not have occurred to you Laura, but sex is a lot more than just the physical stuff."

She snorted. "Sure. So you and Maddy have this wonderful connection now that you've created a child together?"

He tried to stop himself, he really did, but in less than three seconds he had Laura pinned against the nearest housing wall, in a dark corner between two houses. If she hadn't been a soldier and capable of defending herself, he wouldn't have done it at all; as it was, she was one of the best hand to hand fighters in the squad. He knew she could give him a run for his money if she wanted to. She seemed fairly content to allow herself to be thrown around, however. She smirked at him with eyes that conveyed no fear.

"DON'T- YOU- EVER- TALK about her that way AGAIN." He was beginning to shake and he knew he had to cool down or he would get out of control. She just smiled coyly.

"Touchy are we?"

He gave her a scathing look and roughly released her against the wall, turning to walk away. In two seconds, she had him against the wall he had pinned her against so unceremoniously. He almost pushed her off him but her close proximity to him had his head swimming. She released him, placing one arm on one side of his head while the other began to trace lines on his neck. He let out a shaky breath, feeling fire radiate from the places her fingers touched him. The finger traced up his neck, slowly, until she reached his ear, curling around it and tracing down his jaw. Reaching his mouth, she traced over his soft, moist lips, his mouth opening slightly in response. She noticed his breathing increase and smiled slightly. With her other hand, she began tracing lines on his chest, feeling his muscles beneath his shirt. The breath hitched in his throat as she did, his eyes closing slightly and then flying back open as he realized what she was doing. He grasped her arms roughly.

"Stop it," he said firmly and moved to push her aside but she was faster. In one swift move, her lips were on his and he was being pushed back against the wall. He groaned, feeling her leg curl around him, his mind not registering that this was wrong. All he could think about was the tingles coursing through his body and her leg holding itself around his. As he deepened the kiss, he ran a hand up that leg, pulling her closer. She smiled as she responded to him.

"You know Mark," she whispered into his ear, "If you're not having sex with Maddy, I'd be happy to offer myself up for the job."

That was all it took for Mark to snap out of it. He pushed her away again; this time hard enough that she knew he meant business, and started to run from her. Even when he was sure she wasn't following him anymore, he still ran. He knew he was supposed to be meeting Taylor, knew he would be in severe trouble when he didn't show, but he couldn't face Taylor like this. He was a mess and Taylor would know and that would lead to awkward questions.

Mark didn't know anything himself anymore. Things were so different now than when he had first started dating Maddy. He still loved her, he knew that was true, but it was different now, like they had to be together instead of wanting to be together. He knew he didn't love Laura, that was abundantly clear, but she was completely irresistible to him physically. So was Maddy, for that matter, but she wasn't throwing herself at him.

He didn't completely understand what he was feeling. He'd never felt this way in his life before. He'd been interested in girls, had felt lust for them occasionally, but had always been a gentlemen and would never have dreamed of kissing someone while he was dating someone else. He didn't know what had possessed him. The fact that he had gotten Maddy pregnant, the woman he probably loved more than anyone he'd ever loved his whole life, should have made him a wreck. Mark should have been able to accept his punishment with grace and perseverance, knowing he deserved worse. He should have been able to stay true to Maddy, even if their physical intimacy was minimal at this point. He should never have kissed Laura.

But he did do all those things. And he didn't understand it. It was like he wasn't himself anymore. Though he was a military man and by nature liked discipline and firm rules, he had always been somewhat of a free spirit; able to do what he wanted when he wanted and not be tied down. Of course, when Maddy had come around, he hadn't minded being tied down to her because he had chosen it. When their intimacy led to sex, he had felt so bad he had actually cut off their relationship in the hopes of protecting her, it had had nothing to do with feeling tied down to her.

But now? Now, with a child on the way and Maddy's family circling her like protective vultures, he felt entirely too tied down. He felt smothered. And, with Taylor's punishment to top it off, it was too much for him. He felt like he was losing his mind and it was only the first day of his punishment. He knew in his heart he deserved the punishment, knew he had to be the supportive partner and father, but he couldn't live like this! He felt like his world was closing in on him and there was little he could do to stop it.

He ran for a long time.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

At midnight, Jim's com beeped. He rose, groggy, and answered quickly, seeing Taylor's ID displayed.

"Shannon."

"Jim, sorry to bother at this time of night. I'm wondering if you've seen or heard from Mark Reynolds."

That made Jim sit up in bed, Liz turning over to look at him in concern. "Uh, no not that I know of. Why?"

"Well, we can't seem to find him. He was supposed to report to me at 22 hundred but he never did. I thought he was just late but I've been looking for him since 2300 and he isn't anywhere to be found. I thought maybe he was sleeping at your place."

Jim gave Liz a concerned eye. "Well, as far as I know, he's not here. Do you want me to look?"

"Sure, if you can do that without waking anyone else."

"Will do. Shannon out."

He placed the com on the table and thrust his feet out of bed, Liz also rising. "Where do you think he's gone?" She asked him softly, concerned.

Jim pressed his lips together. "Beats me. But if you ask me, Taylor put too much pressure on an already pressured boy. He was already at the breaking point even before Taylor fixed him with that punishment. I think it probably sent the poor kid over the edge."

He softly slid open the door to their room. "Stay here, I'll be back in a minute."

Liz sat back down on the bed, darkness surrounding her, thinking about what Jim had said. It did seem that Taylor's punishment was harsh but she had thought it was appropriate to give him some sort of punishment. She could see what Jim was saying though, about being under too much pressure. He was young and a lot of responsibility was being heaved on without much warning. She couldn't imagine how he must be feeling.

A moment later, Jim returned shaking his head. "He's not here. Not that I expected him to be." He sat back down and briefly told Taylor the news. He asked to be informed when they found him and laid back in bed, turning to Liz who similarly laid down.

"I can't imagine what I would have done if I were in his situation at his age. 23, fresh out of college, dating a high schooler…" He shuddered at the thought and looked at Liz. "Did we do the right thing allowing them to date? I never thought about the age difference that way before but…"

Liz laid a hand on his arm. "Jim, we couldn't have known. Mark seems to be a very put together young man and Maddy is quite mature for her age. She's been done with school for a while now. It doesn't seem so bad when you think about them."

Jim raised his eyebrows and sighed. "Well, I just know that if it was me when I was 23, I probably would have bolted."

Liz opened her mouth in surprise. "Jim! I think you would have surprised yourself. I think you would have risen to the challenge."

Jim shook his head. "I don't know. Back then I wasn't the man I am now."

Liz smiled kindly. "Well of course you weren't, but you were the boy who became the man you are today. You just would have had to grow up a little faster."

Jim sighed. "I guess I'm just worried Mark's decided this is all too much for him and bolted; that he's decided he doesn't want to grow up that fast."

Liz laughed sadly. "Jim, he doesn't have anywhere else to go. Unless he plans on killing himself or disappearing into the jungle, neither of which I can see him doing, he'll be back. He probably just needed time to think. And with Taylor's punishment regime, he hasn't given him even that luxury."

"I hope you're right," Jim said after a moment, "For Maddy's sake."

OOOOO

That morning Maddy work up feeling better than she had in a long time. Her mother had told her that she would soon be feeling better, her morning sickness and nausea passing as her body grew more used to the hormones. She sighed as she looked at the ceiling, watching the shafts of light play on the lightly moving pieces of material. She had left her window open slightly last night and a cool breeze was blowing gently through it.

She didn't think she would ever get over the beauty of the place she was blessed to live in. It was so different than the Earth she had left, and she didn't intend to ever stop appreciating it. Just being able to walk outside without a re-breather was amazing. Actually being able to enjoy the air and see the sun was a bonus. Sighing slightly, she remembered Mark and how he had acted the night before. She hoped he was all right. Knowing this is a tough time for him, she had let him go without pressing him for information. She also realized how challenging his punishment was, but she wondered if he would be better today or worse.

Pushing these thought out of her head for the moment, she rose quietly and put on a simple blue dress. Wondering briefly when she would start noticing the fit of her cloths changing, she opened the door from her room, quietly entering the kitchen. Her mother and father were already awake, sitting in the patio area with the door open, drinking coffee and talking quietly. They seemed to like rising early to drink coffee and talk before the kids woke. She knew better than to disturb them just yet.

As she got ready for the day, she thought about what she could do with her life. She knew she was going to be a mother and that was inevitable. But, what would she do to make money? She knew she was smart and she loved science so she wanted to do something in that field. She supposed she should talk to her mother about it.

When she reentered the kitchen after getting ready, she found her mother making a simple breakfast with her father standing next to her. They seemed deep in conversation. They quickly stopped talking and looked at her, both plastering fake smiles on their faces.

"Maddy," her dad said, "How are you feeling this morning pumpkin?"

She shrugged. "Better than before." Frowning, she looked him in the eyes. "What's up?"

He looked at her mother guiltily and then back at Maddy. "Why don't you sit down."

She narrowed her eyes at him but took a seat at the counter anyway. After a moment of silence, she pressed him. "What dad? Because I can't take much more of these covert looks between you two."

Jim sighed and sat next to her, holding his cup between his hands. "Maddy, Mark was supposed to report to Taylor's office last night for combat training and he never showed up. Taylor's been looking for him since last night but they haven't found him yet."

Her expression went from one of impatience, to disbelief, to fear. "But, where is he?"

"That's what I just said hun, they don't know where he is that's why they're looking for him."

She frowned to herself. "But where could he have gone? And why?" Her eyes widened as she looked at her father. "You don't think he went OTG do you?"

Her father rubbed her arm lightly. "Maddy, I don't know where he went. He could have gone anywhere. You just need to remember that he's a trained soldier and he can take care of himself. I have no doubt that he'll be back. He just needed a little air."

She swallowed hard and she tried not to cry. "Do you think I was smothering him? It that why?" Her sad eyes were enough to make Jim tear up.

"No honey," he said as he pulled her into a tight hug. "It's not your fault. It's a lot of responsibility knowing that he's brought another life into the world that he will be responsible for the rest of his life. Taylor's punishment didn't help anything either." He pulled back from her and kept his hands on her shoulders just as her mother came behind her to smooth her hair back from her neck.

"Maddy," She began in a kind tone. "It's not you, never think that. Mark is just getting used to the idea that he's going to be a father. And he's probably trying to figure out his feelings for you too. He's not used to being tied down like he is right now."

"Do," she began with a shaky voice, "Do you think he doesn't love me anymore?" she turned to look her mother in the eyes and her father dropped his hands to catch hers.

"Honey," her mother began.

"He'd be a fool not to," her father cut Liz off. "And if he doesn't, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it okay?"

She nodded slowly, trying to hold back her tears. Just then, Josh emerged from his room, topless and obviously on his way to the shower. He carefully ignored them as he walked by. That, if nothing else, finally made the tears come streaming down Maddy's cheeks. Her mother sighed and wrapped her into a hug as her father rose from his seat.

"Joshua Caleb Shannon, that's enough!" He was down the hall quickly, leaving Liz to tend to Maddy.

He didn't make it in time to catch the bathroom door before he shut and locked it, but he rapped on it hard with his knuckles. "Joshua!" He waited a moment to see if he would respond, and then knocked hard again.

"Joshua, you open this door right now!"

After a moment, Josh reluctantly opened the door to the bathroom and turned away, waiting for him to enter. He did, quickly, and shut the door hard behind him.

"What exactly is your problem Josh?" His expression was stern as he stared him down. Josh carefully averted his eyes and moved to turn on the shower. His father grabbed his arm and turned his body towards him firmly.

"Joshua, look at me," he said in a tone that Josh couldn't refuse. He looked into his father's eyes but the defiance on his face remained. "Tell me what's going on."

Josh clenched his jaw for a moment, considering his words, and then finally answered. "You know Dad, I can't believe you're taking this as well as you are! I mean, Maddy is pregnant! She didn't do something wrong and then make up for it! She didn't just go OTG and almost get killed! I could have felt sorry for her if that was the case! No, she went and got herself knocked up with her stupid boyfriend, and now she's gonna be chained to them for life and not be able to do what _she _wants to do!"

"Josh," his dad said warningly when he called Mark stupid. "I know how you feel! Really, I do!" He paused to let Josh finish ranting and then fixed him with a hard stare. "Josh, I _know_ how you feel, believe me. I'm her _father_. And I'm not saying that I'm not upset about this situation, I AM, but being mad at Maddy for something we can't change isn't going to help anything."

Josh stood before him, grinding his teeth as he listened, and staring hard at the wall.

"Josh, I felt the same way you did when I found out. I wanted to beat Reynolds into the ground and lock up Maddy for the rest of her life. I even avoided talking to Maddy for a time, until your mother made me realize I was just making things worse." Jim sighed and leaned against the counter in the bathroom, looking at his angry son with sad eyes. "Your mother helped me realize that the reason I was mad at Maddy was because I love her so much and I want her to have every chance at life. I felt like this baby was taking that chance away."

He could see Josh's eyes starting to tear up, though he still determinedly looked at the wall and began to blink fiercely.

"But," Jim continued, "I also realized that we can't do anything about what happened. The baby isn't going anywhere. It's not going to disappear. And it's going to become a person that we all will love dearly. Just like we love Zoe." He paused, watching Josh carefully as a tear slid down his cheek and he brushed it away hurriedly.

"And she's not going to lose her best chance at life. Do you know why?" Jim asked him.

He sniffed wetly and let out a deep sigh. "Why?"

"Because this isn't 2149. She has her family all around her to support and love her and her child, no matter what. This community that we have here will support her and support the child, and we as her family are going to help take care of her child so that she can do whatever she wants, just the same as if she didn't have a baby."

Taking a moment to collect himself, Josh turned to his dad. "Yeah, but she_ is_ having a baby, and it won't be the same. She's younger than me dad! And she's going to be a mother! I just…" his voice cracked as more tears trickled down his face. "I just don't want to lose my baby sister."

Tears sprang to Jim's eyes as he saw the love his son had for his sister. He slowly pulled Josh forward until he was enveloped in his father's strong arms. He seemed to resist for a moment but then broke down, his emotions spilling out of him in barely contained sobs. Jim felt his own body respond to the sadness inside and he too began to cry. Jim held him for a long time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Commander," Wash said as she entered his office. She had just returned from an OTG mission that had lasted a week. Still stinky and embarrassingly dirty, she had been approached the moment she'd returned and told to come to Taylor's office with all haste. She didn't know what this was about but she hoped it was nothing serious.

Taylor turned from his position at the window, a grim expression on his face. "Wash, Reynolds is missing. I thought you may have some idea of where he is."

She frowned at him with a worried expression. "He's missing sir? Why?"

Taylor pressed his lips together. "Well, I think he's going to want to tell you that himself. But, we have to find him first."

Frowning to herself, she thought for a moment, her eyes looking to the side. "I think I may know where he is sir. There's a place he likes to go when he's feeling upset. It's OTG but accessible on foot. How long has he been gone sir?"

"Oh," Taylor said, drawing the syllable out. "About 7 hours or so."

"7 sir?" She shook her head. "That's a hell of a place to go in the middle of the night. Was he upset enough to discard his personal safety?"

"Wash, I think he was probably upset enough to do just about anything." Taylor's blue eyes met her dark ones and he could see the concern in them.

"Then I have to get there as soon as possible."

Taylor nodded curtly. "Dismissed. And Wash," he said, making her turn from her beeline to the door. "Be careful."

She nodded and left quickly.

OOOOO

A half hour later, Wash approached a tall cliff some distance from Terra Nova. She had taken a rover but she knew if Mark was there, he had approached on foot. Parking her rover, she slung her gun across her shoulder, the other strapped firmly to her thigh. Then, she began the short climb to the cave entrance that was about ten feet from the base of the rock formation. It was a cave that Reynolds and a couple other guys had discovered while on patrol a while back. He had reported it but no one had really cared, so its location became a distant memory. It was a great place to go when you wanted to avoid other human company but it was also a good place to be eaten by a cave dwelling carno.

Mark had explored the cave from time to time and had discovered that the large cavern that made up the entrance was just the entry hall to a network of other tunnels and smaller caves. They hadn't even begun to search them all, since they had had a run in with a carno living a short ways into the system. Mark said they seemed to only hunt at night so the outer cavern was relatively safe during the day. She hoped the carnos had already eaten before Mark arrived.

As she cleared the bottom of the cave and pulled herself up, she found herself looking down the barrel of a gun. Then, the gun was quickly moved aside and a hand was offered to help her up. Recognizing Mark, she accepted the hand and was on her feet in seconds.

Relieved to find him alive, she took in his appearance; large facial bruise, ripped clothing, grazing's on his legs from the climb, but, all in all, nothing too bad about his appearance. She looked into his eyes, saw the pain evident there, and pulled her eyebrows together. He turned away quickly and sat down on a rock that made a very nice seat.

"You know you're lucky to be alive," Wash said, none too kindly. He nodded slowly, keeping his eyes down. "That was a hell of a choice coming here in the middle of the night. A carno could have snatched you up before you knew what hit you."

He nodded again. "Yes Ma'am."

She sighed, feeling this tactic wasn't getting her anywhere. Sitting lightly on the rock beside him, she turned to look at him. "Mark, you want to let me know what's going on?"

He sighed and ran a hand over his head. He wasn't nearly as angry as he had been the night before. He knew how stupid he'd been, coming here without regard to his safety but he hadn't been thinking straight. He wondered how Alicia would react to the news.

"Taylor didn't tell you?" He asked quietly.

"No, he said you'd want to tell me yourself."

Nodding, he rose and went to stand at the cave entrance, taking in all the morning beauty. "'course he did."

His anger from the night before had turned into sadness. He realized what a jerk he'd been, both to Maddy and to her family. He couldn't believe he'd kissed someone else and he knew he had to tell Maddy about it. That would probably hurt her more than he wanted to think about, but he knew it was better to share the truth than keep it inside where it would fester. Wash was the last person he really cared about that didn't know the news yet and he prayed that she would accept it with more grace than everyone else had. Except for Dr. Shannon, she'd been great.

Turning back to look at her, the pain was evident in his eyes. She looked at him from her seated position and waited patiently for him to tell her the news.

"I got Maddy Shannon pregnant." He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her reaction, fully expecting the string of rebukes that everyone else had shared. She just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Clenching his jaw, he continued. "I got her pregnant, Wash, and she's 16…" He sighed, turning out again. "I told Taylor yesterday and he… well, he basically flipped out; has me doing sparing and housing duty every day, along with a little combat training at night." He stopped, shaking his head. "It was just too much for me. I mean, Maddy gets to go on with her life without punishment and I have to spend every waking hour doing physical training and labor? How is that fair? And I guess… I guess I just feel way too… tied down."

Wash stood up and walked over to where he was standing. "Mark, look at me," she said firmly. He did, his sad blue eyes taking in her ragged appearance. "I know how you feel about being tied down. I'm a free spirit too; hell most people in Terra Nova probably are. But, I want to tell you something. You have to grow up. You don't have a choice. You made a decision with or without meaning too, and that decision has consequences. Mark, having a baby and a family doesn't mean you stop being yourself or you stop being your own person. You will always be an individual with personality and interests all your own. Having a family won't change that. What it will change is where your loyalties lie, how you live your life."

She sighed. "Having a family is not about being tied down, it's about having people around you who you love, who are there to support you and help you through life. It's about having people there to help you understand things you couldn't understand on your own, and do things you could never do on your own. A healthy family allows you to be more yourself, to be a better person, than you could ever have been on your own. Your job, in response to all the good things you get from having a family, is to care for them and protect them and love them. To spend time with them and listen when someone's having a bad day, to help them, in return, be better people." She stopped talking as she watched Mark's reaction. His eyes dropped from hers as he thought about what she'd said.

"You have to make a decision to be committed to them," she continued. "It's not easy to be in a relationship. Dating is one thing, but marriage? Or having a baby with someone requires deep commitment to working things out and loving each other no matter what happens. You have to be able to forgive and understand, to not be selfish. You have to be willing to give each other enough space to be individuals but enough support to be a couple. It's not easy but the rewards are worth it. Trust me on that one."

Mark looked up at her and smiled slightly. "And you would know how?"

She punched him lightly in the arm. "I'll never tell." The smile slid off her face as she seemed to remember something. "But, in all seriousness Mark…" she paused and turned to watch the rays of the sun reach over the ridge, the blue sky glinting. He could see the sun glinting off her eyes and he realized they were tearing. He didn't say a word, but waited, almost holding his breath. Wash never cried and if she was tearing up, whatever she was about to say was pretty important.

"When I was in my early 20s, I was dating a guy. I liked him, a lot, and I think I was trying to figure out if I loved him." Her eyes seemed far away as she said this. "Anyway, I got pregnant." Her voice shook slightly as she said this and she took a moment to compose herself. "It was completely by accident, a miracle really. But I didn't see it that way at the time. I had a career I was pursuing and being pregnant and in the military was just not possible. Being a mother was, to my thinking, probably also impossible. I told my boyfriend and he pretty well freaked out. He was gone the next day and I never heard from him again." She paused, catching her breath. "Well, I didn't know what to do. I had a career that I loved and the father of my child had just left me. I did what any sane woman would have done; I aborted the child."

Mark watched as her jaw clenched down hard and she set her face, eyes firmly on the horizon. He reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. She swallowed.

"There isn't a day I don't wish for that baby, not a day I don't wish I had kept it. If my boyfriend had stayed, I would have." She turned to him, the tears almost brimming over. His hand fell back to his side.

"What I'm trying to say is, you need to be there for Maddy. She's scared, really scared, but she's also excited. She didn't choose to carry this child, but she doesn't have a choice either. You may feel like your life is being controlled but put yourself in Maddy's shoes."

Mark looked inside himself, thinking about what she said. _Pregnant, a child living inside me, no choice in the matter, a boyfriend who's being unsupportive and confused and unclear about his emotions._ He sighed heavily and looked at Wash's dark eyes, nodding a moment later. He pulled her to him and hugged her hard, feeling her return the hug. If anyone else had told him those things, he wouldn't have been able to hear them. But he'd known Wash for so long, their meeting was a distant memory. She was like a sister to him and she'd never shared that story with him before. After hearing it, he could see he wasn't the kind of man who ran away. He wasn't like Wash's boyfriend. He wanted to be there for Maddy and for the baby. He wanted to support her no matter what. And as for Taylor? Well… he supposed he could persevere long enough to make it out alive. Wash would make sure he wasn't too hard on him.

His mind went briefly to his kiss with Laura. He felt so ashamed for it and he knew he had to tell Wash. He knew that if he did, she could help him and maybe do something about Laura. Internally, he felt himself pull back from the idea, embarrassed, worried, scared of what she would say or do. But, he knew that if he told her, things would be better.

Breaking away from her, he smiled sadly. "I'm sorry that happened Alicia. I never knew. And… I'm glad you told me now. I don't want to be like your boyfriend. I want to be… more like Taylor… even, more like Jim."

Wash smiled at him and then punched him lightly in the arm. "You better not be like my old boyfriend or I'll run you out of Terra Nova faster than you can say Maddy."

Mark looked covertly at her. "Funny, Taylor said something similar."

Wash laughed and shrugged, giving Mark a wink. "Come on, we better get back before Taylor sends out a search party for us."

Mark reached out to grab her arm, stopping her from walking away. "Alicia?"

She looked at him, questions in her eyes. "Is there something else?"

He sighed, feeling nerves begin to creep through his system. "Um… yeah there is. Last night, when I ran away?"

Wash nodded, waiting.

"Well, there was another reason I… ran away."

She frowned at him. "Spit it out Reynolds."

He clenched his jaw, briefly rethinking his decision to tell her. She had suddenly become his commanding officer instead of his friend. He stammered over the next few words, trying to think of something else to say.

"Um… I," he started and then stopped, almost holding his breath. "Never mind. It's not important."

Wash looked at him hard, her jaw working. After a moment, she released him from her gaze. "Okay Reynolds, but you know you can tell me anything right?"

Mark nodded curtly. As she turned to go, he let out a breath he did know he'd been holding.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi guys, thanks so much for all the reviews and all the reads. I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am! I will be updating a little less regularly now, at least once a week, maybe more. I wrote most of the previous chapters at the same time, before I posted them; hence, the fast updating. I've been writing more, never fear, but it won't be quite as fast as before. Thanks again for reading.

Chapter 8

Maddy's mom had said she didn't have to go to school that day if she didn't want to, but she decided to go anyway. She would rather be at school with something to do, then at home worrying. In the morning at school she split her time between high school science and math. In the afternoon she went to help Zoe's class, which Maddy found she actually liked. She was wary at first, not ever having been exposed to large groups of 5-year-old children, but the teacher needed help and that was why she was there so she had agreed. She was glad she had because the teacher had become one of her closest friends.

First period math had been uneventful. She sat through the boring lecture and then helped the teacher by working with students who had questions. Second period was basic biology, which was probably one of her favorite classes. She loved biology and the students were fun and genuinely interested in what they were learning. She almost managed to completely forget about Mark. Three more periods later, it was lunch time and Maddy went into the courtyard at the middle of the school to wait in line for lunch. After she had received her food, she made her way to sit with some of the other teachers. One of them, Ashlynn, waved to her.

"Hi!" she said brightly as Maddy sat down next to her. Ashlynn had arrived on the 9th pilgrimage with her husband, Casey, who came as a botanist to help with the agricultural research. Ashlynn had been a teacher in 2149 and was similarly employed here.

"So?" Maddy asked as she looked at her. "How's the little one today?" She reached down to pat Ashlynn's growing stomach. Ashlynn smiled widely.

"Well! Only 6 more weeks, the doctor says. And boy can I tell you, I'm ready to have him out!"

Maddy smiled slightly and turned to start eating her food, breathing in the fresh air and trying not to think about the fetus growing inside her. The courtyard they were sitting in was filled with children. It wasn't a large courtyard but it was chock full of wooden picnic tables, all with children from age 4 through 17 talking, laughing, some screaming, and generally making a racket. Maddy smiled. It was a good racket, a happy racket. Digging into her food, she turned to Ashlynn who was similarly eating ravenously.

"How were your kids today? Do any of them need a visit from Miss Maddy know-it-all?"

Ashlynn giggled into her food, covering her mouth to keep the noodles from coming out her nose. After a moment, she swallowed.

"Well," she said with a twinkle in her blue eyes. "They are looking forward to seeing you this afternoon. But, they were fairly well behaved today. Your sister was a bit of a nuisance but… what else is new?"

Maddy laughed knowingly and turned back to her food. "Um, Ashlynn?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing after school today?"

She paused to think. "Well, I have some lesson planning to do so I was going to stay at school for a few hours before dinner and then head home. Why? What did you have in mind?"

Maddy picked at her food for a moment and then turned to her. "Well, do you think we could talk after school for a bit? Or would that take too much time from your lesson planning?"

"No dear! Of course we can talk! I probably spend too much time working anyway." She laughed and her eyes crinkled as she did.

The rest of the day went without a hitch. The 5-year-olds were good, and happy as always to have Miss Maddy in their class. After school let out, Maddy allowed Zoe to walk home with a few of her friends and she stayed behind to talk with Ashlynn.

Entering the classroom after dropping off her sister with her friends, she saw Ashlynn's blond head leaning over a tablet. She entered the room slowly; nervous about what she had to say. She was just about to turn around and leave when Ashlynn heard her and turned, smiling in her direction.

"Hey Mad, you want to sit down?"

Maddy sighed, almost regretting her decision, but she hurried over to the chair and sat down anyway. If anyone would understand, it would be Ashlynn.

"So, what's up?" Ashlynn asked her, leaning back in her chair and waiting patiently. Maddy's stomach was full of butterflies but she tried to ignore them.

"Did you know that the first three months of pregnancy are the most dangerous for the fetus and 10-25% of all babies are miscarried during that time?" Her mouth moved before she could stop it. Pressing her lips together, she felt her face grow red. Ashlynn laughed.

"I did know that! And you know, I think that's the only fact you've shared with me that I actually knew!"

Maddy smiled embarrassedly. "Sorry."

"Hey, I like to hear your interesting facts, it makes me smarter. But you don't usually share them spontaneously like that unless you're nervous or really excited. What's going on?" Her blue eyes searched Maddy's features for clues. Maddy sighed.

"Well, you know how I was dating Mark Reynolds?"

Ashlynn nodded.

"Well, we're back together."

The teacher smiled broadly. "That's great! Isn't it?" She asked, seeing Maddy's expression.

"Well… It is great, I'm happy, but the reason we broke up in the first place is because we had… sex."

Ashlynn frowned and tilted her head sideways, waiting for Maddy to continue.

"We didn't mean to have sex, it just sort of happened. We had planned on _not_ having sex until we were at least promised to each other, if that happened. But, we were alone and one thing just let to another. And it wasn't like he was pushing, he wasn't at all. And it wasn't _bad_, but… it wasn't really good either. And then, after it was over he just left! And then he didn't talk to me for like two and a half months until I _made_ him talk to me. And even then he didn't really want to talk. And the reason I talked to him in the first place is because I'm pregnant!"

Maddy had said it all in one long string and it left her breathless. She felt the tears coming again and brushed them away angrily. "AND, I keep CRYING about EVERYTHING!"

Ashlynn laughed lightly and pulled Maddy into a hug. "That would be the hormones. But I'm sure your mom has told you that… assuming she knows?"

Maddy nodded into her shoulder.

"When I was first pregnant, I was a walking bundle of emotions. I think everyone is. My husband took to calling me Ash the Emotional Empress. Which, of course, I did not like one but at the time but… now I can laugh about it."

Maddy laughed a little too as she sniffed. Ashlynn pulled back and handed her a clean hanky she had in her pocket.

"When are you due?"

Maddy shrugged her shoulders and thought for a moment. "End of July I think."

"Our kids will be able to play together."

Maddy smiled through her tears. "I would like that."

"Me too. And what about Mark?"

Maddy shrugged and looked a little angry. "I don't know. He seemed to be taking it pretty well at first but, today he just went missing and no one can find him and he's been gone since late last night and Taylor's been looking for him but they don't know where he is!"

Ashlynn reached out to rub her hands on Maddy's arms. "I'm sure he'll be back Maddy. Don't you worry. He probably just needed some air and some time to think. It's a lot for a guy to take in. Take it from me, even if you're married, it's a big step to have kids and guys take a long time to be ready for it. So, it's probably a good thing he's so much older than you." She pursed her lips in a barely contained smile and Maddy's face cracked to match hers. Ash could always find the silver lining.

"Look," Ashlynn began, "how about you come over to my house and we'll have a snack and talk about being pregnant in depth. I know your mom's a doctor but it's been five years since she's been pregnant. I've got current, firsthand knowledge." Ashlynn's eyes twinkled and Maddy nodded.

"Okay."

OOOOO

Reynolds and Wash made quick work of the miles back to Terra Nova, Wash pulling into the gates and leaving the rover for one of the soldiers to take back to the garages. She and Reynolds made their way up the stairs, Reynolds hanging back just a little. When they got to the top, Wash turned to him with a firm expression.

"Whatever happens in there, I'll stand up for you, but Taylor probably isn't going to back down on your punishment so just be strong and take whatever comes, got it?"

Mark nodded curtly and steeled himself to face Taylor's wrath. Wash pushed open the door, with Mark close on her heels. Taylor was there, sitting at his desk. He looked up quickly as they entered and stood to meet them.

"Well, well Wash, you managed to find the runaway."

She nodded. "Yes sir. And before you say anything, I want you to know he came willingly. He had a lot of thinking to do and he seems to have figured out a few things."

Taylor looked at Mark with piercing blue eyes. "Did you tell her?"

Mark nodded sharply, standing at attention. "Yes sir."

"Good."

"Sir, if I may?" Wash asked before he could say anything else.

His eyes flitted to her. "Yes?"

She walked towards them, hands behind her back. "Sir, I'd like to discuss his punishment with you if I may."

Taylor stood stock still, looking at Wash for some time. It seemed to Mark they were having a silent war. After a moment, Taylor called for the guards.

"Take Reynolds outside and watch him. Lieutenant Washington and I are going to have a conversation and I don't want him running off again."

So, Mark was escorted outside onto the balcony where he waited.

Taylor turned to Wash. "All right, lay it on me."

"Sir, put yourself in Mark's position. He's under a lot of pressure from everyone; from Maddy, from the Shannon's, from you. Your punishment may be justified on a certain level, but it's not going to help Mark be a better father or boyfriend. In fact, it's going to make it hard for him to be a boyfriend at all. I know you think he needs to be taught self-control; taught to keep his passions in check but sir, think about his record. You_ know_ him. He is not an impassioned man who acts on whims whenever he feels like it. He has an impeccable record and he's a unit commander. His soldiers look up to him. He doesn't need to be taught self-control. What he does need is lessons in how to be a father and how to be a lover, and maybe how to be a husband."

Taylor stared her down for a minute, thinking about what she'd said. He did know Reynolds well, which is why he was so surprised when he found out what he'd done. He wouldn't have guessed in a million years that this would happen to Mark. Maybe other soldiers, sure, but not Mark. He nodded at Wash.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around all these years."

She cracked a smile. "Yes sir."

"Well, if you don't like my punishment, what should it be then? Because we have to do something otherwise the other soldiers will think they can get away with anything." He crossed his arms across his chest to listen.

"Well sir, I think he needs to be taught how to be a father and a husband." She looked at him pointedly.

"Jim Shannon should do a fine job on that account Wash."

She gave him withering look. "Sir, he's too close to the situation and you know it. He may be a good mentor, sure, but he needs someone who isn't Maddy's father."

Taylor sighed and dropped his arms. "And you think I'm the man for the job?"

"Sir, you've known him for almost as long as I have and he looks to you as a father figure. I don't think there's anyone better."

He thought for a moment and then nodded. "All right. But I don't know if I'd classify that as punishment. What else?"

"Well, I think having him go the Shannon's is a good idea but maybe not every night. He needs some time to himself, time to think, time to do the things he likes. And having him work for 12 hours every day on construction crew isn't fair either. I think having him work one shift, like everyone else, is only fair. I think you should drop the combat training all together and as for sparing, well, you're hardly a fair match sir. I'll volunteer my time if you'll allow it."

Taylor's eyes twinkled as he shook his head. "Wash, you know I never could resist you." She smirked at him and he cracked a smile. "All right, have it your way, but Mark's your responsibility now."

She made a noise to stop him from turning away. "You have to meet with him regularly, do things with him, try to teach him the things we talked about. Deal?"

"All right Wash," he said as he moved towards his desk, "you win again."

She smirked at him and went to the door to tell Mark the good news.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Maddy and Ashlynn made their way out of the building after Ashlynn had gathered her things. Maddy was squinting in the bright sunlight as she walked out of the school but she immediately noticed Mark standing by a tree waiting for her. She froze as she took him in, relieved and angry all at the same time. Ashlynn stood next to her, waiting to see how the situation would play out.

Mark smiled widely at the sight of her and walked quickly over, scooping her up in his arms before she could protest. She shrieked in response and he laughed, kissing her lightly on the cheek as he set her back down on the ground.

"I'm sorry I ran away Maddy," Mark said as his greenish eyes looked deep into hers. "I'm sorry I made you worry. I just needed some time to think. And… there's something we should probably talk about later."

Despite the fact that he didn't tell Wash what else happened the night before, he still felt strongly about telling Maddy. She looked at him questioningly but didn't ask about it because Ashlynn walked over.

"Maddy tells me that congratulations are in order!" Ashlynn smiled at Mark and he smiled back.

"Yes ma'am, thank you. "

"I don't know if you remember me, but I teach Zoe's class at school. Maddy helps in my classroom every afternoon."

Mark nodded and held out his hand. "Mark Reynolds. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She smiled and shook his hand. "Maddy, we can schedule our date for later. I think you probably need to catch up with your man here." She winked at her. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Maddy nodded. "Okay. See you tomorrow."

As she disappeared back into the school building, Maddy turned to Mark. Her expression portrayed deep hurt. "Why did you leave? I was so worried about you!"

Mark sighed and took Maddy's hand, starting to walk down the path. "I just needed time to think Maddy. I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone and that I made you worry. But hey," he said, smiling at her, "Taylor changed my punishment!"

Maddy screwed her face up into a smile. "Really? Why?"

Laughing, Mark said, "Wash got to him."

"Wash?"

"Yeah, she came back from her OTG mission today and Taylor sent her looking for me. Well, she found me pretty quick and then managed to convince Taylor to lighten my load."

He proceeded to explain to her the terms of his punishment and she listened mostly in silence. When he had finished, Maddy smiled up at him. "That's great Mark. That will be much more doable right?"

He nodded and continued to walk.

"But, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

Mark felt a surge of adrenaline in his body as he remembered what he had to tell Maddy. He knew he had to tell her quickly before he lost the nerve. Spotting a bench not too far away, he steered them towards it. It was mostly hidden in a grove of trees and off the main path so it was the ideal spot. As they sat down, Mark turned to Maddy, taking her hand.

"Maddy, I love you so much. Do you know that?"

Maddy frowned at him. "Of course I know that. Why?"

He sighed and tried to quell the energy coursing through his body. "Well, last night was really hard for me. I had just had a full day of manual labor, starting with a beating from Taylor, and I think everything was just catching up to me with the baby, and you, and the guilt I've been feeling. Taylor's punishment just kind of set me over the edge." He paused and scrubbed his face, releasing Maddy's hand. "These aren't excuses by the way; I just want you to try to understand where I was mentally."

Maddy nodded, a little frightened about what was coming next.

"I was angry. I left your house before I could do or say anything that I would regret and I'm glad I did. I was going to Taylor's office to meet him for combat training but I was stewing about everything that had happened, and I walked right past without even realizing. Once I figured that out, I turned back immediately but guess who saw me walking?"

Maddy frowned, thinking. She knew almost immediately. "Laura." It was a flat statement and she held her breath, waiting for him to continue.

He nodded. "Yeah… Well, I know you don't know her but she can be pretty pushy. And I don't just mean emotionally pushy, but physically too. I was such an idiot for even making out with her in the first place! She's not someone who's easy to get rid of." Taking a breath, he tried to calm his raw nerves. "Anyway, she ambushed me as usual and somehow we ended up kissing. And… she wasn't just kissing me, I… I was kissing her back."

He paused, wondering if Maddy was going to storm off but when she didn't move, he continued. "After a moment, I pushed her away hard and started to run. I knew I had to get out of there and I knew I had to think about some things pretty hard so, that's why I left, that's why I ran away. And Maddy," he said, turning to her, the pain evident in his voice, "I am _so sorry_ I did that. It was so stupid. Laura is nothing compared to you. She's a winey, ridiculous, forward, inappropriate little girl and she doesn't hold a candle to you."

His intense green eyes looked at her dark ones with pleading in them. Maddy could tell he was being sincere but she couldn't understand why he'd done it. She couldn't imagine kissing anyone else, especially while she was with Mark. She felt tears coming again and turned her face away from Marks to look out at the flowers and foliage that surrounded them. A light breeze was playing through the trees and sunlight was making patterns on the ground as the holes in the leaves changed. Branches rustling, the warm breeze ran its gentle fingers over her skin and she pretended she was wrapped up in a blanket of wind, where no one could touch her or hurt her. Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep from crying, smelling the sweet purple flowers that graced the flower bed next to them.

Her 16-year-old mind tried to put his actions into perspective. How would her mother react if her father had kissed someone else? She didn't think it would be pretty. But, her mother would probably forgive him after a time and they would work through it. It would probably depend on the situation though. She thought about Mark and his feelings, about the things he had told her, about running away. Maddy wanted to run away sometimes, and she certainly felt angry sometimes but she couldn't imagine kissing someone else to try to make it better. On the other hand, she didn't have a really hot guy throwing himself at her. If that were the case, it would probably be considered sexual assault. She wondered briefly why that wasn't the case the other way around.

Thinking about it in that light, she understood a little better. It wasn't like he was seeking Laura out. She was seeking him out and she was finding him. It was hardly fair to Mark. Even so, that was no excuse for kissing her back. And why had he left her in the first place, all those months ago, and decided to hook up with Laura? Angry tears finally squeezed out of her eyes, her emotions spiraling out of control. Even if her mother and father could work out a similar situation, her and Mark's situation was different. They weren't married and Maddy didn't want to be hooked up with a guy who couldn't be faithful to her. That thought made more tears stream down her face as she thought about losing him again. She really did love him.

As she thought about what he'd done to her; leaving her, dating someone else, making out with Laura last night; her insides seemed to shrivel up. When thinking about having a baby with Mark in her life, she wasn't so scared. She knew her family was there for her; at least, everyone but Josh right now, and she knew Mark would be there for her too. She felt like she could face having a child because of all the people in her life supporting her. Without Mark, Maddy didn't quite know what would happen or what would become of her life. She knew she could do it, knew she would survive, but it scared her a lot more than she was willing to admit. She almost decided to forgive him right then and there, if only to keep him close to her for a while longer. But, her heart wouldn't let her. With her insides shriveling up and her esophagus squeezing shut, she turned to him.

His eyes were swimming with tears as he looked at her, his face a mask of pain.

"Mark," she said, barely able to talk. She sniffed loudly and tried to take a deep breath. It came out as more of a sob. He wisely kept his hands to himself. "Mark, I…" her throat was so thick, she couldn't relax enough to get the words out. It was like there was a ball in her throat that was keeping her vocal cords from vibrating. She took another halting breath and began to speak through her gasps. "Mark, I-I can't be with you-right now. I-I-I don't know-what to ex-expect from you! Be-for this happened, I-you were such a gent-lemen. And-and I never thought this- would happen. I never dreamed- you-you would k-k-kiss someone else. How can I trust- you? After every-thing that's happened?"

Tears were dripping off her chin, but she let them fall as she waited to see what Mark would say. He also had tears running down his face. He had never cried in front of her before. Only once had he gotten teary-eyed, and that was when he'd lost two friends: one to murder, and the other to banishment. He reached out to take her hand but she pulled it away.

"Maddy I-," his light eyes looked deep into her dark ones. She wondered briefly what color eyes their baby would have. "I don't want to lose you."

She swallowed hard. "I- I don't want to lose- you either. But, I can't- trust you right now. I need- time." She stood quickly before she could change her mind. He stood as well, his eyes pleading.

"Maddy, please!"

She shook her head, a little angry now. "No Mark, I need time. You- you should have thought of this before you decided to make out with Laura."

Turning away from him took all the will-power she possessed; his eyes were so pleading, so sad, and she felt and unexplainable connection to him. Turning away was one of the hardest things she ever had to do. She hoped it was the right decision.

OOOOO

Half hour later, Maddy found herself on Ashlynn's door step. She wasn't home, so she sat on their porch swing, hidden from the main road by bushes and hanging pots. There, she cried hard, attempting to muffle her sobs. She felt like she'd done the right thing but it felt so wrong inside. It hurt so badly to cut ties with him, even if it was only temporary, and even if he had made out with someone else. It hurt her badly knowing that he had made out with Laura. She wondered briefly if he wouldn't have done it if she'd been willing to make out with him. She heard her father's stern, strong voice in her head: _'Maddy, if a boy ever threatens to break up with you because you won't be physical with him, you let 'im, understand me? If a boy loves you, they'll wait until you're ready, no matter what.'_ She smiled at the memory, knowing he was right. So then, why wouldn't Mark wait?

This got her crying all over again and it was some time before she finally calmed down. After a little while, Ashlynn finally came home and Maddy was glad it was her and not her husband. Coming up the path to her house, Ashlynn noticed Maddy and frowned, immediately walking towards her.

"Maddy?" she asked cautiously, as she walked closer. She noticed her puffy eyes and reddened face, realizing at once that something had happened. "Maddy!" She exclaimed as she sat down next to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. Maddy felt hot tears squeeze out of her eyes again but it was like her body had produced all the tears it could and no more would come out. After a moment, Ashlynn pulled away.

"What happened?" She exclaimed. Maddy sighed, her face tired and sad.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

Ashlynn's clear blue eyes met hers. "If it's no harm to keep the secret, then I absolutely promise not to tell anyone."

Maddy considered for a moment. Ashlynn may very well consider her story to be a harm but she really didn't care at this point. "Mark made out with someone else."

Ashlynn's face seemed unable to decide what it should do but in the end, she frowned deeply. "With who? Why? When?"

Maddy shrugged, her puffy eyes burning. "I don't know why, but I feel like I'm not good enough for him. And it was last night, with one of the other soldiers. A girl," she hastily clarified. She didn't need this getting even more confused.

Ashlynn's frown deepened. "When did this start?"

With Ashlynn's soft blue eyes coaxing her, she spilled the whole story about the break up, his hook up, and Laura's subsequent "Mark attacks." When she had finished, Ashlynn was silent for a moment.

"Well Maddy, I think you did the right thing, even though it was hard." Her small smile revealed a dimple on the side of her face. Maddy nodded.

"I know. I just don't know what to do about it now."

Ashlynn grimaced and her lips formed a thin line. "I don't know if there's anything you can do. You could go to Taylor or Lieutenant Washington and tell them about the situation, but then that's taking that responsibility away from Mark. If he really wants to fix this, he's going to get help dealing with Laura. To do that, he's going to face the wrath of them both, which will not be pretty, but he'll do it if he wants you back." She smiled a little. "Normally, I would say go after the people you love with a passion but in this case, I think you need to give Mark a little time to figure out for himself what he wants. He may even already know what he wants. I know waiting is the hardest thing to do, but it's probably the best thing in this situation."

Maddy nodded, hating that answer but knowing it was probably true. Ashlynn smiled.

"Look, why don't you go inside and wash up and you can stay for dinner. Hopefully by then your face will be back to normal and you won't have to tell your parents if you don't want to." Ashlynn fixed her with a look. "But, it might be better to at least tell your mom. Keeping secrets always comes back to haunt you."

Maddy nodded but had no intention of tell her mother. This was one secret that was better kept.

OOOOO

After Maddy left him, Mark sat in the grove of trees until darkness fell. The night bugs came out, filling the darkness with razor sounds. Finally realizing how dark it had become, he made his way home, walking slowly towards his house. Approaching from the back, he saw one of his roommates, Trevor Markum, sitting on the back porch, embroidering a piece of cloth. Mark couldn't help but laugh lightly.

Trevor loved embroidery, and he was man enough to be okay with it too. When he'd first arrived, the guys had made terrible fun of him but, after a while it became obvious that he was just as tough and just as testosterone filled as the rest of them. They laid off after a particularly nasty run-in with a carno that left him the savior of their unit. He looked up as he heard Mark approaching.

"Hey," he greeted him. Mark raised his eyebrows in hello and looked down at his work. He had to hand it to him, he was damn good. This one was of a dragon, half finished, mostly red and gold, with scales and claws.

"Dyed the thread with some roots I found OTG last week. Came out just about the color I wanted." His brown eyes were steady on the needle, carefully stitching the pattern. Mark sat down heavily beside him, the chair groaning in protest. Trevor glanced at him.

"What's up?"

Mark shrugged. "What's _not_ up?"

Trevor moved his face in agreement and looked down at his embroidery again. Mark sighed.

"I think Maddy just broke up with me."

Trevor's head swung up quickly and his soft brown eyes looked at him in surprise. "She broke up with you?"

Mark looked away and laughed a little hysterically. "Yeah, she's carrying my child but I still can't seem to hold onto her." He dropped his head into his hands, covering his eyes.

"Well, you know M," Trevor said after a moment, "women don't tend to like it when you make-out with other people."

Mark raised his head slowly and looked at him. "How did you know?"

Trevor shrugged, "I was on a late night stroll. Couldn't help but notice a couple making-out. A moment later, you bolted past." He paused as Mark let out a sigh. If Trevor had seen him, anyone could have. "So," he continued, "what's up with that anyway?"

Mark scrubbed his face with his hands, thinking about the question. What _was _up with that anyway? What had he been thinking? He hadn't, and that was the problem. And now he was losing Maddy because of it.

Mark shook his head. "I don't know. She came on to me and I let myself be seduced."

Trevor looked at him disbelievingly. "Mark, Master of Motivation, King of Kourtesy, Ruler of Restraint?" He paused for a moment.

"You know courtesy begins with a C right?" Mark said.

Trevor looked at him patiently, ignoring his comment. "The Mark I know has more will-power than this. What happened to him?"

Mark, flustered and annoyed, stood up and off the short porch step, beginning to pace in the glowing light from the house. Trevor backed off, relaxing in his chair and getting back to his embroidery. Mark continued to pace.

Everything Trevor had said was right, but it made Mark mad. Who was Trevor to tell him what to do? He was only three years older but he always acted like he was forty. It annoyed him to no end some times. But that's not why he was really mad. Why was he mad anyway? He was angry that Maddy had broken up with him, he was angry about the situation, he was angry at Laura for messing up his whole damn life. And where had his will-power gone? He used to have it in spades. Now, it seemed to be in short supply. He used to be able to refuse a ridiculous chick like Laura any day, and now?

"Laura's messed up my whole life," he muttered.

"Hm?" Trevor asked.

"I said, Laura's messed up my whole life." He said it maybe a little too loudly and the skin around Trevor's eyes tightened. He hated raised voices.

"On no, Mark, Laura didn't mess up your life, you did that all by yourself."

Mark's green eyes spit fire in Trevor's direction. He thought about hitting him, but stopped himself. Trevor was one of his best friends. It wouldn't gain him anything to burn those bridges too. Mark sighed, looking away and continued to pace. It was about twenty minutes later when he finally sat back down in the chair.

"You're right," Mark said quietly, "about everything. I did mess up my own life. And I don't know what happened to my self-control. I used to have it in spades and now, it seems to come and go."

Trevor put down the piece of cloth and turned to him, listening.

"The only problem is, I don't know how to get it back. And I don't know why it went missing in the first place."

They were silent for a long moment, Trevor waiting to see if he said anything more. When he didn't, he took a breath.

"You know M, I'm no shrink but it seems to me you don't know what you want. Seems to me you haven't known that since you had sex with Maddy."

Mark nodded slowly, looking at the dirt just past their porch, bathed in the soft glow from the house. He was right; he didn't know what he wanted.

"Seems to me," Trevor continued, "you can't decide if you want Maddy or Laura, if you want both, which you can't have by the way, if you want to be a Daddy, if you want to be a husband, or if you just plain want to run away and screw it all."

A smile tugged at Mark's mouth at that, but it quickly faded. He did feel like that. He had felt like that yesterday. He thought about Wash and the story she'd told him. He felt like he'd taken advantage of her trust. He felt bad that she'd stuck up for him in front of Taylor when she didn't know the whole story.

He turned to Trevor. "But how do I figure out what I want?"

Trevor shrugged. "There's not one way but trial and error hasn't been workin' very well for you." He smiled and Mark smiled a little too. "You know," Trevor continued, "my Grandma used to say…" Mark almost groaned at their inside joke and Trevor's eyes danced a little as they connected with Mark's.

"I'll have you know, my Grandma really did use to say this. She said, 'you got lots of choices in life boy, an you can't have all of 'em cause some choices cancel each other out like magnets. Well, so,' she would say, 'you gotta choose the ones you can't live without and then you gotta stick to 'em, cause you may not wanna stick to 'em all the time, but in the end, you'll be glad you did.'" Trevor smiled at the memory and then looked over at Mark again. He nodded.

"So your grandma would say that I need to decide what I want and then stick to it, make a commitment no matter what."

Trevor inclined his head to the side in agreement. Mark sighed. "Well, I know I want Maddy, that's for sure. I just think I may be too late."

Trevor shook his head, leaning back in his chair. "Naw. Maddy's having your baby. She wants you in her life as much as you want her in yours. But she wants to be safe too. She wants to know she can trust you, and right now…" He flashed him a smile. "Even I don't trust you."

Mark laughed through his nose. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"What do good friends do?" Trevor asked, "Slap you in the face when you need it."

Mark nodded. "Right."

"Okay," Trevor said as he stood, his embroidery in hand. "Well, I'm callin' it a night. Got the 4 AM shift tomorrow. But M, if you need to talk, you just wake me up, deal?"

Mark nodded, raising his eyebrows.

"And maybe we'll switch shifts later as payment for loss of sleep."

Mark rolled his eyes at him as he made his way inside, the screen door slamming behind him. His other roommate, Dirk, came out a moment later, asking if he was interested in playing some cards. Mark agreed and made his way inside, the warm light enveloping him. He'd pursue serious thoughts another time. _Another time soon,_ he promised himself. For now, he was just glad he was home and not training with Taylor.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Maddy stayed at Ashlynn's house for dinner, grateful for the hospitality from her and her husband. Maddy wasn't very good company though. The only thing she could think about through all of dinner was, _I broke up with Mark… because he kissed someone else._ It became dark out soon after dinner and Ashlynn's husband offered to walk her home. She declined, saying she'd rather walk herself. Taking the long route, she moseyed home, thinking about everything that had happened and wondering how she was going to survive without Mark. She was having his baby and she needed him. She got to her house sooner than expected.

Entering the door, she found her mother and father finishing dishes at the counter. Zoe was dutifully putting away the dishes her father was handing her and her brother was slouched deep in the couch, doing something on his tablet.

"Hi Maddy!" Her mother said brightly. "I heard Mark is back and all is well?"

Maddy turned her face away, under the cover of dropping off her bag in her room. "Yeah," she began, sounding slightly strangled. "He's back."

"That's great!" Her mother exclaimed. "Isn't it?"

Maddy turned to her, pasting a fake smile on her face. "Yep."

Her mother's eyes seemed to take in her appearance: her fake smile, her slightly red eyes, her late homecoming. But, for some reason, she seemed to make the decision that Maddy was just tired, a common ailment for someone in her condition. Her eyes flitted to Josh, who was still absorbed in whatever he was doing on his tablet.

"Josh," her mother called. He seemed to come out of a trance when he heard his name, jumping slightly.

"Wa- what?" he asked as he put down his tablet.

"Maddys home," she said pointedly and Josh noticed his sister for the first time. Maddy watched him with curiosity as he sighed lightly and seemed to be mustering up courage to do something. She wondered if he was going to finally apologize. He rose slowly from the couch and walked over to Maddy, his eyes flitting back and forth from hers to the floor.

"So," he started awkwardly. "You wanna take a walk?"

Maddy gave him a half smile. "Okay."

They both slipped their shoes on and were out the door a moment later.

It was completely dark out, the velvety black sky twinkling with stars. They always took Maddy's breath away and tonight was no different. She could hear the night bugs razoring around them, the whole world seeming to hum with the buzz of life. She couldn't believe what they had been missing out on in 2149; the beauty and aliveness of it all. Despite her aching heart, she felt peace walking next to her brother and taking in the beauty of the night.

Josh was similarly enraptured. Although he would probably never admit it, he loved this place. It was beautiful and breathtaking. There were so many new things to experience and do that would have never been possible in 2149. He loved that he had a chance to make a new life for himself here, even if it meant losing people he loved. As he thought about Maddy's baby, he remembered the reason they were out walking in the first place. His pulse quickened as he grew nervous. They walked in silence until their house was out of sight, then Josh cleared his throat.

"So…" he began. "Maddy, I-" he paused and ruffled his hair. "I've rehearsed what to say so many times and now I can't remember a word of it." He looked at her and smiled, embarrassed. Maddy laughed lightly.

"Josh, I'm your sister. You don't have to rehearse what to say to me. You don't have to be embarrassed."

He sighed as they continued walking. "Yeah, but I do. Look, I've been stupid… really stupid. And yeah, yeah I know, what else is new right? It's just-

He stopped walking and turned Maddy towards him. "Maddy, I've been so angry. I've been angry at you, at Mark, even at mom and dad. I blamed our parents for not protecting you and for not seeming to care, I blamed Mark for the obvious and for not protecting you, and I blamed you for not being more careful, for being… stupid. For being like me."

Maddy's dark eyes watched his blue ones as they tried to explain his feelings to her.

"I…" He looked into her eyes and he took her hands. "I love you, Maddy. I'm sorry I ignored you for so long and I'm sorry I was so angry. I just don't want you to grow up too fast. And…" he sighed and smiled a little. "I'm not smooth like Dad; I didn't plan an outing or buy you a ring but… I just want you to know that I'm here for you, no matter what."

Maddy smiled at him, her eyes swimming with tears, and she pulled him into a hug. "Thanks Josh. I love you too."

OOOOO

That night she managed to avoid talking to her mother or father about what was bothering her. Josh could tell something was wrong, but probably didn't know how to ask about it, her mother was busy with Zoe, and she managed to avoid her father all together. Even saying goodnight was short and Maddy pushed off her mood with tiredness. Her mother laughed and said that would become a common feeling.

As Maddy lay in bed that night, she thought about Mark. She thought about what he'd done to her and how he'd acted. She still couldn't believe he'd made out with Laura. Mark, the ever dependable, made out with some else. The tears began to flow freely as she realized she couldn't trust him. It wasn't that she never could again, but it would take time for her to build it up. She thought Mark probably wanted her back but she supposed that remained to be seen. The thought of having a baby and raising his child without him was more than she could bare and a sob escaped her. Biting it back quickly, she looked over at Zoe to make sure she was still sleeping. She was.

Maddy wished she could be as carefree as Zoe seemed to be.

It was hard to believe that there was a life growing inside her. Her body seemed to be the same as always. Well, maybe not the same exactly, but similar. She felt a little different, and of course the first couple weeks she'd suffered from some morning sickness, but all in all she still felt like the old Maddy. She didn't understand how something so world changing could be going on inside her.

Shaking her head, she tried to push the thoughts of Mark away so she could sleep. Of course, this was met with little success and she tossed and turned for hours, sea-sawing between tears and anger. Finally, around 2 in the morning, she got up quietly, slipped on some clothes, and padded out of their room into the darkened house. She almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Josh sitting at the counter, drinking something hot. He almost spilled the drink down his bare torso when he spotted her. After a moment of muffled coughing, Josh caught his breath.

"You scared the living day lights out of me Maddy! What are you doing up?" His voice was almost a whisper, loud enough to hear but not loud enough to carry. It's the kind of voice people use almost instinctively in a dark and mostly sleeping house.

She shrugged, hoping he wouldn't notice her puffy eyes. "I couldn't sleep."

"Join the club," he said flatly.

She moved to make herself some hot chocolate (or what passed as hot chocolate here). Placing the water in the heater, she let it go, stopping it just before it dinged to avoid the noise. After she had finished, she pulled up a stool next to Josh.

"So, why can't _you_ sleep?" she asked curiously, still using the confidential tone. Josh shrugged, seeming to avoid her gaze.

"I just can't sleep some times."

She frowned at him. "You used to sleep like a dinosaur. No one could wake you up in the morning and dad sometimes had to throw cold water on you to make you get up. So I don't buy it."

He sighed, idly swishing the leftover liquid in his cup. "Started after I found out about you." He looked at her with sad blue eyes. "But I don't want you to feel weird about it. It's not your fault I just… love you that's all."

She shoved him playfully with a shoulder. "You've been saying that a lot lately. Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

He gave her a half smile and looked away, embarrassed. They sat in silence for a moment; the only sound was Maddy's soft slurping and the faint din of her father's snoring.

"So," Josh began, a little awkwardly, "What's up Maddy? I can see you've been crying and something wasn't right with you tonight."

Maddy looked down in her hot cocoa to watch the brown foam make patterns on the surface. Josh turned to watch her, waiting patiently.

"I broke up with Mark."

As she said it out loud for the second time, it felt more real to her somehow and she felt hot tears fill her eyes. Josh sat in stunned silence. After a moment, he cleared his throat.

"You broke up with him?" he asked slowly. She nodded. "Why?"

She took a moment to consider, watching the foam swirl, turning from one wide swirl to a curly swirl. So much for keeping secrets. She never could keep them long, especially not from her family. She turned to look at him with a firm gaze.

"If I tell you, you have to promise not to go crazy and _not_ to go after Mark."

He raised both eyebrows at her facial expression and then nodded. "Fine."

"I mean it, Josh. No looking for loop holes in that promise either. Back-hand promise?"

Josh couldn't help but crack a small grin. "We haven't back-hand promised since we were ten."

She looked at him expectantly, her right hand raised with the palm facing him. He looked around to make sure no one was watching and then raised his hand similarly and linked them, the backs of their hands touching.

"I Joshua Caleb Shannon," he began, his voice portraying his discomfort at doing something so ridiculous, "do solemnly swear that I will not go crazy and will not go after Mark."

"And you won't tell anyone else, not even mom and dad, and no loopholes," Maddy added.

Josh rolled his eyes and then shrugged his shoulders in ascent, finishing the hand shake with the customary ending their five-year-old selves had come up with: each person had to try to grab the others ear. Josh almost managed to get Maddy's because she was unprepared but she quickly pulled away, almost falling off her stool. They chased each other as quietly as possible, giggles and snorts escaping here and there, garnering hotly uttered "Shh!"s. Eventually they ended up chasing each other around the island, ending up at a standoff, with Maddy closest to the door and Josh closest to the bathroom.

"Okay," Josh said, "first one to the plant in the corner wins."

Without thinking, they both took off. The distance being only about six feet, they both ended up in a pile on the floor, not having any idea who had gotten there first. Both of them were laughing hysterically, clamping their hands over their mouths, their bodies shaking as they tried not to make any noise. Maddy realized she had forgotten all about Mark for at least ten minutes. As she caught her breath, she realized she would now have to tell Josh the news. As they stopped laughing, they leaned against the wall and Josh turned to her.

"Well? Spill it."

She looked down at her hands, feeling the happiness from a moment ago draining away. "He made out with someone else."

Josh's face went from expectant to angry in less than a second. "I'm going to kill that son-of-a-"

"Ach!" She stopped him with a noise and a hand. "Lower your voice! Do you want to wake up mom and dad? And," she drew out the word, "you back-hand promised you wouldn't go looking for Mark, NO EXCUSES."

Josh pressed his lips into a thin line, trying to figure out what to do with his anger. "When I promised, I didn't know _cheating_ was involved."

As far as yelling while whispering was concerned, Josh won the prize. Maddy sighed. "Anyway, that's why I broke up with him. And just so you know, he didn't have to tell me but he did so that should at least score him some points."

Josh's eyes flitted to her, the glare burning holes in her eye sockets. "You know," he began hotly, "I was just getting around to forgiving Mark and he goes and does _this_!"

"He's not entirely to blame."

Josh gave her a disbelieving expression which she chose to ignore, and continued, "This girl from another unit is basically throwing herself at him. If he really wants to fix this, he'll go to Wash and tell her what's been happening. So, we'll see."

They sat in silence for a long moment, Josh thinking about different ways to murder Mark and Maddy hoping Josh wasn't doing just that. Finally, Josh found his way out of those daydreams and sighed.

"Well, since I can't do anything to him, I'll just have to leave it up to Wash. But, I have confidence she'll do a fine job." He actually smiled at her as he said it and she felt relieved.

"I just hope he tells her," Maddy said after a moment.

"If he doesn't, then I have self-given permission to seek him out and avenge you."

Maddy giggled a little, despite herself. "He didn't kill me Josh!"

Josh shrugged, "All the same."

They had been so engrossed in their conversation they didn't hear their father exit his bedroom in search of the bathroom. When he spotted his two eldest children sitting on the floor in the corner, he frowned and made his way over, catching the very end of their conversation. He reached out and flipped a light on, garnering two loud exclamations from them as they tried to shield their eyes from the barrage of light.

"What's going on guys?" He asked curiously from his position beside the wall. Josh squinted at him from between his fingers.

"Neither of us could sleep so we had a snack and talked for a while."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "U-huh. Well maybe…"

He trailed off as Elizabeth emerged from her room, wrapping a robe around herself and squinting at her half-dressed family. They had stopped whispering and hadn't realized it, using regular volume in their voices.

"What is going on?" She asked, surprised but not really sounding angry. Jim shot her one of his irresistible smiles.

"Oh, nothing honey. We're just having a little party, without you, in the middle of the night. Care to join?"

She rolled her eyes at him and looked at her children, who were still seated on the floor. "Everything all right you two?"

They both nodded, a little embarrassed. She gave Jim a I-can't-believe-this-is-my-family look and then said, "I don't think this has ever happened in this family before."

"What," Jim asked, "being up in the wee hours of the morning?"

"Yes! What's gotten into us?" She asked, disbelieving. Both Jim and Josh pointed at Maddy.

"It's her fault," Josh said.

"Agreed," her father seconded. Maddy managed to crack a smile. Elizabeth sighed, sitting down on a stool and look around at them.

"All right, since we're all up and this has never happened before, and hopefully will never happen again, who's hungry?"

They all looked at her like she was joking. When they realized she was serious, Josh exclaimed,

"Definitely I am!"

Maddy nodded vigorously. "I would like eggs dipped in hot chocolate." Josh gave her a disgusted face. Even her dad nodded, but then, he rarely passed up on food.

"Count me in," he said enthusiastically.

Liz just shook her head at her family and got off the stool, getting out things to make an early, very early, morning breakfast. Pretty soon they were clanking dishes, talking loudly, frying sausage, and laughing. Josh kept breaking into made up songs about eating breakfast in the wee hours of the morning and his father would chase him around with a spatula every time he did. It wasn't long before pancake batter entered the mix and there were splatters on everyone, Elisabeth included. Soon, Zoe woke up to all the commotion and came out, wanting to know if it was time to go to school. When she found out what was going on, she woke up quickly and joined in the fun. They eventually ended up with a feast of breakfast food, which they ate ravenously.

When they were finished, Zoe left the table and went to the couch, falling asleep quickly. Maddy smiled at her. Soon, the kitchen still in chaos, food still on the table, the last four Shannon's succumbed to the call of sleep and laid down on the living room floor, all promising to move to their rooms soon after. Jim curled himself around Elisabeth, Josh lay parallel to the couch, Maddy rested her head on Josh's stomach, and twined her feet through one of her mother's arms, a comforting hand on her calf. Then, finally, at five AM, the sun's light just appearing in the dark sky, Maddy fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Shannon," Taylor said for the sixth time, "Shannon do you copy?" He had been trying to raise Jim on the radio for half an hour now. He first assumed he was running late. Then, when five minutes turned into thirty, Taylor tried to call him. Jim was now an hour late, nowhere in sight, and not answering his radio. Concerned, Taylor quickly called the hospital.

"Commander Taylor," said the woman who answered.

"Sarah, yes, I need to speak with Dr. Shannon."

The doctor shook her head. "I'm sorry, she's not here yet. She was supposed to check in over an hour ago and we've been unable to communicate with her. We were just about to call you and notify you."

Taylor's frown deepened as his mind began whipping through scenarios in which the entire Shannon family had been murdered or kidnapped. "All right, thank you Doctor. I'll let you know when we know more."

He cut the connection and quickly radioed the school, getting the same response from them. The girls had never arrived. Now, thoroughly concerned, he called in the guard standing at his door.

"Sergeant, I need you to get together a group of five men and meet me as soon as possible at the base of the stairs. Just get whoever is available, understood?"

The soldier nodded and went to carry out his orders. Taylor took out his radio, calling Wash.

OOOOO

Wash and Mark were in the gym, both clad in tight fitting cloths suitable for sparing. Mark had a lot to learn from Wash, but she was at least a fair match for him. As he prepared himself for another attack, Wash's radio crackled.

"Wash," came Taylor's voice. She quickly dropped her stick and went over to grab it.

"Commander."

"We have a situation developing with the Shannons. It's a long story but I've put together a small team and we're heading over to their house. I'd like you to join us."

Wash eyed Mark, who was looking concerned, and answered. "All right, be there soon."

She quickly shrugged on her jacket and picked up her gun. Seeing Mark's look, she said, "All right, you can come. Let's go."

Grabbing his jacket, he hurried after her.

OOOOO

Wash and Mark arrived at the Shannon's house first. Wash stopped Mark from barreling in since Taylor hadn't told them the nature of the situation and she didn't know what they'd be walking in to. As they waited, Mark paced, watching for signs of life from their house. All was quiet.

Not too long after, Taylor and his contingent arrived. "Any sign of life Wash?" Taylor asked, his blue eyes concerned.

"No sir," she answered. "What exactly is going on sir?"

"Well, is seems that the entire Shannon family has forgotten to show up for life today and no one can raise them on the radios. I don't know what's going on, but I hope it's all a silly misunderstanding."

Wash nodded. "Yes sir."

Taylor turned to his men. "All right, let's move in. Braket, Tyile, I want you two on the back door."

They complied and Taylor took point, Wash close behind. Mark, despite the fact that he was missing a weapon, followed behind Wash. Taylor took out the master key and unlocked their front door, pushing it open.

His first thought when he saw the state of the inside was, "they've been robbed," and then "they've been kidnapped." The house was in such a state of disarray, he didn't realize it was actually planned disarray until he noticed the table filled with empty dishes and a few remains of food. He looked at Wash with a curious expression, wondering if they were still here sleeping and where they'd gone in such a hurry as to leave the kitchen in such a state.

As he walked a little farther in, he almost slipped in a puddle of batter, a hardened film over the top. Pots and pans covered the counter, along with egg shells, meat cloth, syrup, knives, onion peels, pepper tops, flour, and pancake batter. Come to think of it, the pancake batter was everywhere. It looked like there had been a war waged with it. The table was similarly littered, but mostly with dirty dishes. One pancake lay on a plate and two pieces of sausage were left, grease pooling around them. Taylor shook his head in disbelief, taking another step forward.

His view no longer blocked by the kitchen table, he spotted the whole family, curled up in various positions on the floor in the living room. He nudged Wash and pointed, her face cracking a smile as her eyes glanced back at him. The soldiers coming in the back door had noticed them as well and seemed to relax. Jim was laying on his back, wedged between the chair and his wife. Elisabeth was on her stomach, one arm over Jim's stomach and one under her head. Josh lay above them all, parallel to the couch, and on his back. Maddy's feet were on his stomach and the rest of her body was curled around so she seemed to be laying on her stomach, one arm under her head. Zoe, the smallest, was somehow wedged between Josh and Maddy, her head laying in the crook of Maddy's body, her legs curled around Josh's shoulder. They looked somewhat like a human puzzle.

Taylor shook his head again. Never in all his days in the military had he ever encountered a stranger or more touching answer to someone being late. Taylor thought for a moment and then came to a decision. Motioning for the soldiers at the back door to move out, he told the soldiers at the front door to do the same.

"Wash," he said in hushed tones. "Go to the infirmary and make sure they'll be okay without Dr. Shannon for the day. It looks like this family needs a day off."

"Yes sir," she said with a smile in her voice. Taylor quickly jotted a note down and left it among the mess on the counter, hoping they would see it. Then, clasping Mark on the shoulder with a smile, he pushed him lightly out the door, leaving pancake footprints behind him, and locking the door.

"Well Mark, you've got housing duty. But, let's meet for lunch k? I'll be there at 1200." Mark nodded curtly as he watched Taylor walk back towards the main square. Turning back to look at the house briefly, he shook his head. Maddy's family was special and he hoped one day he could be part of midnight pancake madness. He had thought hard last night, instead of sleep, and this morning, he knew without a doubt what he wanted. Even if she wasn't carrying his child, he wanted to make Maddy Shannon his wife.

OOOOO

Instead of reporting to housing detail, Mark radioed Wash to see where she'd ended up. Turned out, she was just making her way back to the main plaza. Mark asked if she would wait for him so they could talk briefly before he had to start work. He jogged his way to where she was waiting and she smiled at him.

"Reynolds, what's up?"

He smiled tightly and then looked forward as they started to walk. The butterflies in his stomach were completely out of control, but he ignored them resolutely. Nothing was going to keep him from telling Wash this time. He knew what he wanted.

"Uh, do you know Laura Kandar?"

She nodded curtly, continuing to walk.

"Well, after Maddy and I broke up, she and I were together."

"Okay…" she said, waiting for him to continue. He sighed, taking a deep breath.

"Well, the other reason I bolted the other night was…I kissed her… more like… made out with her the other night."

Wash stopped walking and turned to him sharply, staring him down. He tried to hold her gaze, swallowing thickly, but had to drop his eyes. She had the most intense stare of anyone he knew.

"You made out with her," she said slowly, "After you asked Maddy to date you again." Her mouth was set in a thin line, her eyes hard. He swallowed again and nodded slightly. She was holding her hands tightly in fists and obviously struggling to control herself. Quickly turning away from him she began walking. Reynolds thought for a moment she was going to leave but she turned back, coming towards him again.

"You of all people I would never have expected this of."

Her hard stare was back. Mark clenched his jaw, nodding.

"You are the epitome of a faithful man, Mark. I thought that's what you were. Are you telling me you're not that person?"

The question didn't seem to warrant an answer so he just stood silent, waiting, hands behind his back. She turned away for a moment, running a hand over her head and then quickly turned back.

"Why, Mark? Why did you do it?"

Mark's eyes seemed to crease together as his face became a grimace. "Well, I've been thinking about that question a lot and I think I know the answer."

She waited with an expectant expression on her face.

"I didn't know what I wanted. I had Laura throwing herself at me, practically begging to be with me, and Maddy, pregnant with my child, who I love, but not throwing herself at me in any sense of the word." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Well, I didn't sleep last night. I talked with Trevor and then I thought hard pretty much the whole night through. I want Maddy, Wash. I want her, and I want this baby, and I want to make her my wife. I've decided that I'm going to be committed to her, end of story. And even if she wasn't pregnant, I would still want to make her my wife."

Wash started him down for a good two minutes, thinking about what he'd said. After a while, she said, "Tell me what happened. And don't leave anything out." Her tone was hard.

Mark nodded and told her in detail of the events of that night; of his anger leaving the Shannons, of walking past Taylor's office, of meeting Laura, of Laura's attitude and insistent physical contact. When he had finished, Wash was looking at him with a little less anger than before. She nodded curtly.

"All right Reynolds, we're going to have a talk with Laura and attempt to figure this out. And just because she's coming on to you does not, I repeat, _does not_, give you an excuse."

"Yes Ma'am," he said as he adopted his familiar soldier stance.

She sighed. "Does Maddy know?"

Marks expression visibly fell. "Yes. I told her yesterday and she… she broke up with me."

Wash nodded. "But it was the right thing to do you know."

Mark nodded. "I know that."

"And points for telling her right away."

Mark tried to smile but it didn't quite come out. Wash sighed, grasping one of Marks shoulders with a firm hand. "She'll come around Mark, but you have to show her that you're serious about what you told me; that you're committed to her and that you want to make her your wife. She's going to need a little time."

Mark nodded, looking at the ground, and then cleared his throat, visibly blinking his eyes to keep the tears from collecting. She released him from her grip a little roughly.

"Come on, let's go talk to Kandar. Then you can go do your housing job."

As they began their walk to the main plaza, Wash couldn't help but think about how her boyfriend had failed her all those years ago. She had never thought that Mark might fail Maddy. She knew he wouldn't now that he'd got his head on straight again, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he might not be the committed man she knew he was. She sighed, thinking about how disappointed she was in him and hoping he wouldn't continue that way; knowing that he wouldn't, but wondering all the same.

When they arrived at the stairs leading to her and Taylor's offices, she turned to him, her eyes sad.

"You know Mark, I hope you mean what you said about being committed to Maddy. She's a good kid and she's counting on you to take care of her. I want you to know I have faith in you but I really expected better from you and I'm disappointed."

The line felt like a dagger to the heart, and as he contemplated those words, he knew he couldn't let them continue to be a reality.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Late in the morning, Jim woke to a shaft of light poking him in the eye. Blinking and squinting, he moved his head so he wasn't blinded by the golden light, and looked around. As the shroud of sleep left his mind, he realized how light it was and how late it must be. Jerking up to a sitting position, he noticed the rest of his family, still deep in sleep, and the huge mess that was still left in the kitchen. The memories of the night before came flooding back and he almost laughed out loud. Suddenly he realized that they all must be late for work and school and he wondered why Taylor hadn't called him. Frowning, he tried to get up quietly, but Elisabeth woke up as he jostled her arm in his attempts to stand. She squinted up at him.

"Jim," she said groggily, "what time is it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know but I guarantee we're all late."

She smiled a little as she sat up, rearranging her robe and pushing hair out of her face. Looking at the mess, she shook her head. "What a night."

Jim snorted. "You can say that again."

He quietly made his way into his room to grab his radio and noticed the screen sporting the words, "20 missed calls." He frowned and looked at it, seeing they were all from Taylor. Then he noticed the time.

11:00 in the morning.

He dropped the radio quickly, turning to go for the closet, but it ended up being closer than he expected and as he turned, he smashed right into the door, his quickly moving body making a loud crash and garnering a hotly uttered curse. A moment later, Liz rushed in to find her husband rubbing his head and leaning against the closet door.

"What happened?" she exclaimed as she turned to him, removing his hand to have a look at his head.

"Oh nothing," he said, annoyed. "I just noticed the time and thought I would smash myself into the closet door as punishment for sleeping so late."

Elisabeth laughed a little and shook her head at him. A moment later, like three heads on a totem pole, Zoe, Maddy, and Josh stuck their heads around the corner of their room to see what was going on. Lis smiled.

"Hi guys! Sleep well?"

They stood and entered their parent's room, all wearing small amused smiles.

"We should definitely have breakfast in the middle of the night more often," Josh said enthusiastically.

"Agreed," Maddy said passionately. "I don't think I've slept that well for weeks."

Zoe giggled. "Yeah, especially if we don't have to go to school today."

Lis looked at Jim sideways and they both realized that half the day was already gone. Lis approached Zoe.

"Well honey, mommy and daddy and Maddy and Josh probably have to go to work and if we have to work then you have to go to school."

Her face fell and she huffed. "Aw, I wanted to skip! Everyone else would be soooo jealous."

Lis laughed. "Well, you three go get dressed and me and daddy are going to call work okay?"

All three groaned but complied with her wishes. Not ten seconds later, Zoe came running back into their room brandishing the paper that Taylor had left for them.

"Mommy, mommy, Daddy, you don't have to work today! Taylor said so!"

Lis took the paper from Zoe and looked at it. "Don't worry about work today," Lis read aloud. "Everything is taken care of. Take a family day. Taylor." Lis looked at Jim who had stopped short of calling Taylor. He took the paper from her and read it himself, shaking his head.

"You think they came looking for us and found us all sprawled out on the floor?" Jim asked, a twinkle in his eye. Lis laughed.

"I can just imagine. We probably had Taylor scared half to death."

"20 missed calls," Jim said, holding up his radio. Lis laughed loudly and Jim joined her, Zoe giggling along with them. Jim stomach suddenly growled fiercely, garnering a happy laugh from Zoe.

"You're hungry daddy! We need another feast!"

Jim smiled. "Yeah, maybe we do. Well, let me call Taylor and maybe you and Mommy can start cleaning the kitchen."

At the words 'cleaning the kitchen', Zoe wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "No, eating first!"

Lis laughed. "Zoe, I don't think there's any room to make more food with all the dishes everywhere!"

Zoe pushed her lower lip out in a pout. "Okay, well, not all of the kitchen then, just part of it."

Lis rolled her eyes in Jim's direction. He just smiled at her. "All right," she said, "come on. If we get Maddy and Josh to help, it won't take nearly as long."

Zoe happily skidded out of the room with Lis hot on her heals.

OOOOO

At lunch time, Mark walked over to where he'd stashed his stuff and picked up his shirt, pulling it back on over his sweaty body, the material sticking to him incessantly. Using a towel, he wiped his face and went to wash his black hands. Despite his feelings about working on housing duty originally, he was actually beginning to enjoy himself. A lot of the guys on the crew were good fun and interesting people. The foreman was a good natured man who, though conscious of deadlines, was lenient and tried to make the work as enjoyable as possible. The work itself was a little boring but Mark liked doing physical labor and enjoyed being in the sun all day. He spotted Taylor approaching the work site and he raised a hand in greeting. The foreman talked to him briefly before Taylor made his way over to Mark.

"Well," he said, "How's work today? The foreman says you're taking to it, maybe even enjoying it."

Mark shrugged. "I guess. It's not so bad spending most of my time outside, and the foreman is nice. Of course," he added. "I would rather be patrolling but… it's not so bad for now."

Taylor gave him a smile and slapped him on the back. "Well, I would be worried if you said anything different. Come on, let's go sit on that bench over there. I brought some food from the market."

They made their way over to a bench that was a ways from the construction site, on the main road and shaded from the hot sun. Taylor opened the bag he'd brought with him, revealing several different kinds of fruit, a hunk of bread made with a sweet herb Mark particularly liked, and two small cookies, similar to the ones Maddy liked to make. He felt a small stab in his stomach as he thought about her. Reaching for one of the fruits, he began to peel the rubbery skin off. Taylor cleared his throat and seemed to be about to say something.

"So Mark," he began, "Wash told me about your problem with Kandar."

Mark almost spit out his first bite of fruit. He hadn't expected Wash to tell Taylor anything. He started coughing as he inhaled juice from the fruit. Taylor smacked him lightly on the back until his hacking slowed. He started at the ground, not knowing what to expect from Taylor.

"I won't lie, I was pretty mad when she told me. But, she tells me you've figured out a few things. She tells me… you want to make Maddy your wife."

Mark let out a slow breath he didn't know he was holding. Taylor wasn't going to kill him after all. Taylor turned his blue eyes on him. "Is that true?"

Mark nodded and sat up to face him. "Yes sir, without a doubt."

Taylor nodded and seemed happy with Mark's decision. "Good." After thinking for a moment, he continued. "Wash also tells me she had a chat with Kandar and you set some limits."

Mark nodded again. "Yes sir."

"That's good too." Taylor reached in the bag and came out with a piece of fruit. Taking out his knife, he began to carve the solid skin away. "I just want to say one thing about the situation and then I won't say anything about it again."

Mark waited for him to continue, not knowing if he meant marrying Maddy or the situation with Kandar. Taylor sighed.

"One of the most important things you can have in your relationship is trust." He turned to connect eyes with Mark again, his blue ones serious and firm. "If you can't trust the people you love, then you have nothing, you don't have a relationship." He paused, making sure Mark was listening. "Maddy has to know you're committed to her for better or worse, and she has to know she can trust you. She has to feel safe with you. Now I know that Kandar was throwing herself at you, but you have to be committed so strongly to Maddy that no matter who throws herself at you, you won't see anyone but Maddy. If Maddy doesn't believe that about you and she's smart, she'll never agree to marry you."

Mark's green eyes flashed with pain, knowing she most certainly didn't trust him right now. He cleared his throat, trying to find his voice. "How do I gain that trust back?"

Cutting off a piece of fruit, Taylor pulled it out and fiddled with it. "Well, that's the real trick isn't it?" He leaned back in the bench. "I don't have an easy answer for you Mark. But, women love romantic gestures; be creative, and show her you're the kind of man who deserves her trust."

Mark nodded, trying to think of ways he could possibly earn back the trust he'd lost so badly. "I can think of lots of ways to be romantic, it just feels different this time."

Taylor let out a short laugh. "Well, I've been there before and you just got to start small, surprise her, but not go so big that you scare her. Then, work your way up from there."

Mark eyed him curiously. "Sounds like you have lots of experience in that arena sir."

He smiled a little at him and his eyes seemed far away. "My wife was a fiery one. A good match for me but we did fight a lot. I've done a lot of romancing in my time. But, for all we fought we always trusted each other, always knew the other would be faithful because we were committed." He raised an eyebrow at Mark. "That's what you have to show Maddy you're capable of."

Mark nodded, taking another bite of his fruit. He could see it would probably be a long road ahead of him, but, for the first time since he had found out Maddy was pregnant, he was excited about taking it.

OOOOO

The Shannon family had cleaned up part of the kitchen and then started in on their second feast of the day. They made an extravagant meal, of which they'd be eating left overs for at least three days; with meat that Jim grilled outside, veggies prepared in the oven, fruits, salad made with dried berries, sauce from pureed roots, and much more. Maddy even made a pie for desert.

After they were finished eating the dinner part of the meal, no one was hungry for pie yet so Lis suggested they all take a visit to the river that ran close to Terra Nova. It was OTG but easy to get to and not generally dangerous territory. Folks from the compound went there often on weekends. Everyone loved that idea, since the day was hot and the sun was shining. Even Zoe, who was usually scared of water, was game, as long as she only had to put her feet in. Everyone laughed and said she didn't have to swim.

They packed their bags with towels and food, taking Maddy's pie along, and Jim met them at the gate after he checked out a rover. They all piled in, with the three kids smashed in the back and Jim at the driving wheel. Once they arrived at the river, everyone unpacked and laid out their things, being careful to keep the food in sealed containers except when they ate some. Josh ripped off his shirt as soon as his feet had hit the ground.

"Race you in!" he yelled to anyone who was listening. Maddy shrieked and pulled off her dress, under which she had her bathing suit. She rushed after him, not making it before he plunged in but hot on his heels none the less. Their father was soon in the water too, wrestling with Josh and Maddy, flinging them through the air to make huge splashes, their shrieks echoing against the stone cliffs. They managed to get him under the water a couple times, but even with their combine strength, their father was still considerably stronger than they were. Josh resolved to work out more.

Lis and Zoe stayed on the shore, Lis coaxing Zoe in up to her ankles. There, Zoe refused to go any farther.

"No Mommy," she shook her head. "I'm scared. There are fish with teeth and scary things in the water." She simply refused to budge from her spot near the shore.

After a while, the three rough housers came over. "Zoe," he dad said, "why don't you come in? The water's nice!"

She shook her head resolutely and crossed her arms over her chest. He frowned at her.

"Well, why not?"

Lis laughed. "I think our daughter is afraid of fish."

Zoe looked put out. "I am not! I'm just afraid of fish with teeth."

"That's like all of them Zo," Josh said without thinking. His father glared at him.

"Not helping Josh."

After a moment, Jim said, "Okay Zoe, what if I sing the go away fishes song?"

She looked at him a little suspiciously. "Go away fish song? I thought that only worked for spiders."

His other two children looked at him like he was crazy but Lis laughed quietly as she watched them.

"No, it doesn't only work for spiders. It works for lots of animals, like fish with teeth." He was looking at her so seriously Lis had to turn away because she knew she was going to burst out laughing. Josh looked at her like she was crazy.

"Am I missing something?" Josh asked. His mother just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Come on Zoe," her dad said. "Let's show Josh how the go away fish song works."

She looked at him with an unsure expression on her face but reluctantly held out her arms for him to carry her in. He reached out and pulled her deeper into the water. She shrieked in response.

"The song, daddy, the song!" She was practically screaming at him so he quickly began to sing.

"Go away fishies, go, go, go. We don't like you, no, no, no…"

Maddy and Josh looked at each other, their expressions completely confused. When their eyes met, they couldn't help but burst out laughing at their fathers ridiculous tactics. Their mother joined their laughter as they watched them wading in the water.

"So," Josh asked his mother, "What is that song all about anyway?"

His mother looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. "It's a long story." And proceeded to tell them about their problem in the eye that day the colony lost power. As her mother told the story, Maddy laughed, but it brought back memories of a better time, a simpler time in her life when she'd been enraptured by Mark, captivated by this man who was interested in her. She remembered their first kiss that day and how sweet he'd been to think of the flowers and that she'd like them. She remembered how he looked at her, how they'd spread mud all over each other's bodies to keep them safe and how exhilarating that had been. She remembered he'd said she was a bad influence on him. Maybe he was right.

Her mother had finished the story and Josh was laughing hysterically, calling out to his father and singing the spider song in a silly voice, his father eyeing him like he was plotting revenge. But Maddy's eyes were glazed over and Lis noticed she wasn't with them anymore.

"Maddy?" she asked as she scooted over in the water to sit closer to her, their behinds resting on the sandy bottom of the river. "What are you thinking about hun?"

Maddy snapped out of it and looked at her mother with a sad expression. "Oh, you know, Mark and I and… well, simpler times." She laughed as she said it, realizing it made her sound like she was sixty years old. Her mother laughed too, and slipped an arm around her waist.

"Well, things change and people grow and we make choices, some bad and some good." She looked at her daughter with soft eyes. "I like to see every change in life as a new chapter. It's hard to see the old chapter end sometimes but it's necessary for the book to continue, hey? And some chapters are happier than others, some are more work than others, but try not to view them as better or worse. They're just different."

Maddy smiled slightly and nodded, turning to watch Josh as he swam out to meet his father and Zoe. He seemed to be coaxing Zoe into putting her head under water.

"How are you and Mark doing, by the way?" Her mother asked innocently. Maddy sighed.

"We're taking a break."

Her mother turned to look at her, searching her face, and then pulled her in for a hug, an awkward one at that. Hugging while sitting on sand in knee deep water was not as easy as it might seem. She pulled away, settling herself once again on the ground.

"It's going to be all right honey. Whatever you and Mark decide will be okay, you just have to make sure it's really what you want, hm? And taking a break might not be a bad idea. It's a lot of information to take in and maybe you need some time to think about your relationship without the other person there."

Maddy nodded; grateful her mother hadn't pried like Josh had. She wasn't mad at Josh; she just didn't want to tell her parents what happened. Hopefully her mother would tell her father and no more questions would be asked. Zoe, her father, and Josh came wadding in after failing at getting Zoe to put her head under.

"Any fish attack you Zoe?" Maddy asked. She shook her head, smiling a little.

"Well maybe," Maddy continued, "you should learn to sing the song yourself so you can go in the water without Daddy's help."

Zoe's eyes widened and she looked at her father. "No, it's too scary without Daddy."

Zoe suddenly seemed to realize she was waist deep in water without her father singing the song and she shrieked, quickly running onto the dry bank. "A fish almost got me!"

Her father shook his head at her and laughed. Taking his father by surprise, Josh hurtled his body at his midsection and managed to catapult him into the water, getting him completely under water. Josh stood up, roaring and making muscle arms. Not a moment later, Josh was under water too, having been assaulted from below while he was celebrating. Zoe laughed hysterically and Maddy and Lis joined in her laughter. Thus began the second rough-housing war and Maddy and Lis just shook their heads.

Getting out of the water, they laid their towels out and sat down, watching white water fly and shouts coming occasionally from the river. Maddy took a deep breath, loving the feeling of the hot sun on her wet body, feeling its burning rays heating her up. She loved the feeling her body took on after physically exerting herself in water. Laying in the sun solidified the experience.

Her mother was getting out some food and Maddy realized that she was hungry again. It had been a couple hours since they'd eaten but they had eaten a lot so Maddy was surprised she was hungry. Josh and her father came in from the water, the lure of food too great to pass up.

"Do we get to eat Maddy's pie now?" Josh asked excitedly as he toweled off, gently poking Maddy in the arm with a toe. Maddy grunted in response to her nap being interrupted.

"I suppose I could get out the pie," she said, pretending to be grumpy. Opening her eyes, she pulled out the pie and began to dish it out. When everyone had a piece, her father smiled at them all, holding up the pie like it was Champaign.

"Here's to family and new life. May our family always be loving and honest and enjoy taking days off together. And may Maddy's baby be a healthy new gift for us all." He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"All right," Josh said, "let's eat. I'm starving."

That night they were finally a family. Josh was his old joking, ridiculous self; Zoe was cute and funny and laughed at Josh's jokes; her mother was all smiles, and ever the embarrassed one when anyone would say anything teasing or inappropriate; and her dad was the instigator, egging Josh on, making Zoe laugh, embarrassing her mom. Maddy sighed as she ate. Her family was finally back to normal, and she was glad it was.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello readers! Thanks for continuing to read and review. This chapter will be the last until January. I will continue to write the story but with the holidays and all the traveling I'm going to be doing I don't want to disappoint you all when I neglect to post regularly! I will be posting a chapter within the first week of January, so please expect another chapter then. As for Mark and Maddy scenes, they're coming! This chapter will hopefully give you a foretaste of what's to come. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Chapter 13

The next day, Maddy went to school again and she felt happier than she had in a long time. Her family was together again, everyone was communicating; having a baby seemed to her to be beside the point. The only dark cloud was her and Mark's relational situation. She didn't quite know what to do. She knew she wanted some time away from Mark but she also knew she wanted him back; but, only if she knew she could count on him. She hoped a solution would present itself.

The night before, she had considered how to start telling people she was pregnant. She supposed she could just start with the first people she saw and move on from there. Since there wasn't anyone else she really felt the need to tell first, she supposed no one would feel left out. The only trouble was, once she started telling people the rumors would start flying and she would probably end up the butt of many jokes in the high school classes.

So, she elected to not announce it to those classes. She decided it would be easiest to tell the young ones. They were so innocent and most of them would probably accept it without a hitch. She made sure it was okay with Ashlynn, which it was, and they planned to make the announcement during what Ashlynn called "circle time".

The five and six year olds gathered in the ring, each one grabbing a carpet mat that was their own for the circle. Maddy sat at the 'head' and picked up the talking flute, which was passed to anyone who wanted to talk. The teacher always got the flute first and she had exclusive rights to take it away, but besides that, if someone had the flute, they got to talk.

"So," Maddy started, feeling nervous even though she knew the children would be accepting. "I have something to share with everyone." Zoe looked at her, giggling. Maddy had told Zoe her plan so she knew what she was going to say.

"Everyone knows how Miss Ashlynn is pregnant right?" The children around the circle nodded and the girl beside Ashlynn patted her stomach. "Well, I'm going to have a baby too!"

Zoe giggled out loud at that, and many of the other children followed suite, mostly because Zoe did it first. Maddy smiled. One boy raised his hand and she passed the flute to him.

"Um, miss Maddy, do you know what the name is yet?"

"No, we haven't decided yet. I don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet."

Another girl raised her hand and the boy passed it to her. "When will your tummy look like Miss Ashlynn's?"

Maddy laughed. "It will still be a couple months but you'll get to watch my tummy grow, just like Miss Ashlynn's did."

The girl passed it to the boy next to her, who was fidgeting in his seat. "My brothers said that sometimes when you see a big stomach, it's just because she ate a melon seed."

That garnered a large laugh from most of the children in the circle and it took a moment before everyone was quiet again. The boy seemed to know he was being silly and smile shyly at her.

"Nope, it's always a baby."

The questions continued like this, Zoe joining in, until the last girl asked a question. "Who is the daddy Miss Maddy? Are you married?"

Ashlynn looked at Maddy with a questioning stare in her eyes. Maddy smiled and reached out for the flute. "Well, the dad is Mark Reynolds. He's a soldier and he works for Commander Taylor. He's my boyfriend." She didn't expound and the children seemed to accept it without too much trouble. Their 5 year old minds were on to new and better things before they could think twice.

OOOOO

The next week passed relatively uneventfully. Mark continued to work on housing duty and had lunch every day with Taylor. At night, he would play cards and sit on the back porch, contemplating ways to woo Maddy, wondering if he would ever be able to win her back. Maddy continued to work at school, word spreading about her pregnancy. Some high schoolers were mean about it but most were surprisingly understanding and kind. Every day when she entered Zoe's classroom, the children would swarm her and ask Ashlynn if they could have the tape measure. Then, they would measure Maddy's waist, just as they had Ashlynn's, to see if she was getting bigger. They were always disappointed but continued to wait for the day when her stomach would magically pop out, just like Ashlynn's had.

Her family continued to be close, communicating well. All the anger of the first week seemed to have abated and now, it was with joy they awaited the arrival of another member of their family. Maddy and Mark, however, seemed to be at a standstill.

Maddy didn't know what to do. She knew she had been the one to break up with him but he had been the one to cheat. She wanted to know he was going to be true before she took him back and she felt it was his job to apologize to her if he wanted her back. So she did nothing. She waited.

Mark too didn't know what to do. How would he make it up to her? How could he ever atone for his actions? He really couldn't and he knew it. It would be up to Maddy to forgive him. But, he also knew he'd have to be the one to apologize and re-initiate their relationship. After a week of contemplating how to begin wooing her again, he was at his wits end.

It was 1 AM on Friday night and Mark sat at the counter in his house. He held a steaming mug of coffee in his hands, his legs dangling off the stool, his bare torso hunched over. His roommates were gone, attending a party at someone's house. Mark had no interest.

He thought about Maddy. He'd been keeping track of her pregnancy progress on the calendar and knew she was about three months and 8 days along. She would find out the sex of their baby soon. He knew he wanted to be around for that. Thinking about her finding that out without him had him depressed and he dropped his head in his hands. Start small so you don't scare them away, Taylor had said. What did that mean?

He sighed and looked up as the door opened. His two roommates walked in, conversing with each other in loud tones. They noticed him sitting at the counter and Dirk came over, clasping him on the back.

"Hey man, it was a great party. You should'a come. We left early cause we knew you were here _moping_ so we thought we'd cheer you up."

Trevor came over too and leaned on the counter with his arms. "It was a pretty good party. More Dirk's scene than mine but, fun none-the-less."

Mark laughed and shook his head. "When you find a party that _is _your scene, let me know."

Trevor smiled and inclined his head in agreement.

"Did you guys drink?" They seemed sober to him, but he could never be certain.

"Aw," Dirk started, releasing Mark from his grip and sitting next to him. "A little. Mr. I'm-too-good-for-alcohol over here didn't, of course, but no big deal. They didn't really have anything great. Our brews are better, bro."

Mark smiled. They had started brewing their own beer almost two years ago and had started dabbling in other forms now that they had the beer down pat.

"So…" Dirk said, living up to his name of the non-stop-talker. "What's on your mind, M?"

Mark shrugged and looked down into his coffee. Trevor snorted.

"Do you really have to ask Dirk?"

Dirk laughed and got up, moving to make more coffee. "You're right, Monsieur," he said with a bow and a flourish of the hand. "I forgot our fair Knight is thinking of his damsel who he unwittingly impregnated and lost, despite his fairest efforts to keep her."

Mark rolled his eyes at Dirk's antics. He was always playing. Sometimes it seemed like he thought he was always on stage. Mark looked around for something to throw but the only thing in sight was the cup he was holding. Dirk could see what he was doing and bowed to him over the counter, holding out a chopstick.

"Your weapon, my lord."

Mark had to laugh as he took the chopstick, promptly throwing it at him. Dirk had meant for them to sword fight but Mark didn't feel like playing. "Dirk," Mark said in a more serious tone. Dirk's gold eyes connected with his. "Can you be serious for a minute?"

Mark could see Dirk almost saying something witty in response, but he held himself back. Mark saw his shed his stage persona like it was another set of cloths and his coffee colored face cracked a small grin.

"Sure thing. What's up?"

Dirk was funny like that. He always kept up that stage persona in front of people he didn't know very well. When Mark had first met him, he thought he was going to be like that all the time. But, it turned out Dirk could be a really deep guy; he just wasn't very forthcoming with trust. His silliness was part of his personality but it was also a security blanket for him. Now, when Mark wanted serious talk he knew he could just ask and he would get it.

Trevor looked interested also and took a seat, asking that Dirk make enough coffee for him too. As Dirk padded around, putting the coffee machine together, Mark took a breath.

"Well, you guys know Maddy broke up with me and you know why."

They both nodded but said nothing.

"Well, I want her back and I don't really know how to go about… doing that."

Trevor looked serious and rested his chin in his hand, thinking. Dirk finished putting the coffee together and turned on the machine, taking up his place next to Mark again, also looking serious. After a minute of thinking, Dirk said,

"That's heavy man. And no small feat."

Mark snorted. "Tell me about it. I've been thinking about it all week and I haven't come up with a single good answer. The only thing I'm sure of is that I want her back."

Dirk sighed and laid his head on his folded arms on the counter.

"Well," Trevor said with a smile, "that's an awful good start."

Mark gave him a half smile. "Yeah. It's something I guess. Taylor said I need to do something small that won't scare her away, but it also has to be big enough that it's going to make an impact."

They both sat until the coffee dinged and Dirk rose to get two more mugs out, setting one in front of Trevor.

"Well," Dirk began, "what about sending notes to her house? Or gifts? Or just flowers? Like, one flower a day with something special at the end of the week."

Mark nodded. "Yeah, but would that be enough to catch her attention? And what kind of flowers should I choose? And what would be the end of the week surprise?"

"You could make her something," Trevor said. Dirk held back a laugh and Mark rolled his eyes at him.

"Yeah, and what would I make? The only things I'm good at are hand-to-hand combat and firing a gun."

"You know, embroidery really isn't that hard."

Mark laughed shortly. "This coming from the man who could make a living off his embroidered dragons. Besides, I'm not nearly cool enough to be a soldier who embroiders things on the side."

Trevor fell silent after that and Mark hit him roughly in the arm. "Quit being a sissy," he said. Trevor had to smile and almost immediately had Mark in a head lock, wrestling him to the floor in a matter of seconds. Dirk was on his feet too, and began commentating like he was a sport announcer.

"Oh! And M is on the ground with Trev holding him tight in a head lock. But wait! Mark comes back and breaks out, using brute strength! Trev is caught off guard as M lands him on the ground."

This went on for about five minutes before they called a truce. They both had several rug burns but they were smiling. As they sat back down at the counter, Dirk seemed deep in thought.

"Do you have another idea?" Mark asked after a moment. Dirk held up a finger and turned to his roommates with a smile on his face.

"Gentlemen," he began in his best Sherlock Holms impression. "I think I may have a solution." Turning back into himself he continued. "Send her a flower for every day of next week. Make them relate to each other somehow, like every color of the rainbow or something else that comes in a set of seven, because seven is one of the numbers of completeness in the bible right?" He looked at them for confirmation and Trevor nodded. Dirk laughed.

"Grandma lady has managed to teach _me _a thing or two without even being here! Anyway, so you send her a flower every day and you can just send her a flower by itself or maybe a flower with a note or maybe a flower and a gift! Then, the last day of the week you send her a daylily, right? That's the kind you went to see on your first date!"

Mark groaned, immediately seeing the flaw in their plan. "But Dirk, those live out their lives in one day."

Dirk shrugged. "So, we'll all get a rover and go out at dawn to pick daylilies!"

Mark laughed and scrubbed his face, looking tired. "At this point, I'd be willing to do anything."

Dirk nodded and smiled in a silly way. "Good, cause you might have to. So, then with the daylily you could send a really nice gift or you could send a note with the flower, asking her to meet you somewhere non-threatening and _give_ her the gift." He waited like a little boy for Mark's response. Mark couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"Yeah, all right, it sounds great. But there are a lot of other details to figure out."

Dirk raised his hands. "Well, I'm not doin' _all _the work for you bro."

Trevor just sat with his hand over his mouth, an incessant smile tugging at his lips. "You know Mark, I know it's kind of 'Dirk style' groveling, but it has drama and it has finesse. It just might work."

Mark looked from one to the other. "You think so?"

Dirk clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey man, if she doesn't come back to you after we're done with her, I'll do the dishes for a month."

Mark gave him a crooked smiled. "If you are willing to bet dishes time on this, you must really be sure."

Dirk smiled and shrugged. "As sure as I am that Jane Austen is your favorite author!"

With that, he quickly jumped off his stool and ran down the hall towards the bathroom. Mark was after him in a flash and as they chased each other around the house, Trevor just watched them, laughing from his stool. Hearing a crash, a thump, and a muffled curse, he got up slowly, shaking his head, to see what they'd broken this time. Sometimes he swore he lived with Rhinos.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

On Sunday morning, Mark woke early and had to drag himself out of bed in response to his alarm. It took him so long to get up that Dirk, who was already awake, actually opened his door and pelted his bed with socks until he finally got up. Yawning furiously, Mark donned comfortable clothes and packed a bag for a day out. Taylor hadn't told him anything about where they were going or what they would be doing, he had just said, "pack light, pack food, and dress sensible."

Well, with Taylor that could mean just about anything so Mark tried to cover all his bases. Glancing at the clock, he realized he was almost late and, grabbing a bagel from the cupboard, he left the house, slamming the door and jogging all the way to the main plaza. Taylor was there waiting for him.

"Mornin'," he said, a smile tugging at his lips. "Slow start?"

Mark skidded to a halt in front of him. "Yes sir, sorry sir."

Taylor laughed and clapped him on the back. "No sir's today, Mark. This is a personal day. I'm just Nathaniel."

Mark nodded and almost responded with a 'yes sir'.

"You have everything?"

Mark shrugged. "Well, you didn't tell me much but, I think so."

"Got food for lunch?"

Mark nodded curtly. "Yes sir… Nathaniel?"

Taylor laughed. "I guess I've been your CO for too long Mark. Come on, let's go."

When Mark had first met Taylor, it had been through Wash and he hadn't been in the military yet. He had called him Nathaniel for years before he became a soldier. When he had to start calling Taylor by his designation, he had the opposite problem and had almost been drawn up for insubordination several times. Taylor had saved him from any real charges but had given him a good talking to on several accounts.

They climbed into the rover and Mark looked curiously behind their seats as they started out of the compound. Fishing poles, tackle box, two guns, rope, carabineers, inflatable boat, paddles. It looked to Mark like they were planning on hiking, boating, and repelling all the way across the continent.

Turning to look at Taylor, he took a breath. "Uh, sir, are we planning on taking on the whole continent today?"

Taylor laughed, keeping his eyes forward. "No, just a small part of it. I thought it was time we got back to some of our old sporting days."

Mark looked forward again, a smile tugging at his lips. "Yes sir."

"And don't make me court martial you for not following orders. Today you call me Nathaniel."

"Right, sorry. You know, it's ironic how the tables have turned."

Taylor raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, it's funny how things change isn't it?"

Mark through briefly about Maddy and their relationship, wishing in that instance things _hadn't _changed. He sighed, grabbing the bar as they made a particularly sharp turn. He would get her back, he had to. He only hoped his plan would be enough.

They drove for about half an hour before they arrived at their destination; perhaps the first of many. It was a sheer rock face, gray stone with multiple hand holds and rock outcroppings that Mark could see. He knew Taylor intended them to climb it.

"Well," Taylor asked as he climbed out of the rover. "What do you think?"

Mark got out also and looked up at the towering wall of rock. "I think I'm out of practice and I'm not going to make it."

Taylor laughed. "Oh, come on, that's quitter talk."

Mark snorted. "No, that reality talking."

Shaking his head, he came to Mark's side and slapped him hard on the back. "You're young, in shape, a good fighter, and if I remember correctly, a great climber. It won't matter if you're out of practice, you'll do fine."

That seemed to be the end of the discussion and Taylor went to the back of the rover to unpack their gear. As they worked, threading the ropes, testing the carabineers, getting the harnesses ready, Mark remembered when they used to do this on Earth. Even though the air was bad and most of the plant and animal life was gone, there were still plenty of rocks to climb and he and Taylor had climbed a lot of them. He had been young but Taylor had been a good teacher and Mark found he enjoyed climbing. After Taylor had left Earth, Mark had stopped climbing; feeling that to do so would be tantamount to betrayal. Even when he had first arrived in Terra Nova, they hadn't gone together, being too busy with other concerns. Recently, Mark had wondered if he should bring it up with Taylor and see if he wanted to go, but luckily Taylor had beat him to it.

Mark breathed in the clean air and looked around him at the plentiful greenery. This was nothing like climbing on Earth, with rebreathers and desolate landscapes; this was what climbing on Earth _had_ been like, long ago.

Finally ready to start climbing, Taylor started up first, paving the way for Mark to follow him. As Mark started up, Taylor began their favorite climbing game.

"Bird," he called down.

At first Mark was confused. "What?" His voice echoed on the cliff wall.

"Come on Mark," Taylor said, sounding a little disappointed. "Don't tell me you forgot about the game."

Mark's brain clicked as Taylor said that and he smiled. "It's been a long time."

"So," Taylor called. "Bird."

"Um… feathers."

"Hey, no thinking just responding."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." It had always been a point on contention between them with the game, Taylor always answering with lightening sureness and Mark always taking too much time.

"Blue," Mark called.

"Beauty."

As they climbed, Mark felt himself falling into the familiar rhythm. It had been a long time but Taylor was right, he hadn't forgotten. As their climb progressed, however, Mark felt his forearms and gripping muscles tiring. They were rarely worked out and by the time they were three quarters of the way up the cliff, Mark wondered if he was going to be able to make it the rest of the way.

"Pain," Mark called.

"Necessary."

"Necessary?" Mark called. "Really?"

Taylor laughed from above him. "Housing duty."

"Not so bad," Mark said instantly. Taylor didn't say anything for a moment.

"So, you still think it's not so bad huh? Maybe I'll have to put you on the latrines."

Mark groaned and hoped he was kidding.

Taylor was at the top way ahead of Mark. The last bit of the cliff, Mark had to take several breaks to stretch out his hands; they were cramping up so badly he could barely grip the rock. When he finally made it to the top and pulled himself over, he allowed himself to collapse on the rock floor, the lower half of his legs still dangling off the side, his face planted firmly in the dirt, his arms lying uselessly beside him. Taylor laughed at him and shook his head.

"You did good. Don't worry you'll be back in shape in no time."

Mark just grunted in reply. He turned himself over without using his hands and sat up, using his stomach muscles. Holding one hand out, he pulled his fingers back to stretch it, his face wincing in response.

"I remember how easy this used to be. What happened?"

"Well," Taylor responded from his position beside him, his arms encircling his knees, "muscles disappear if you don't use 'em. But, despite all the pain, look at the view."

Mark looked up and for the first time really saw the view before him. It was spectacular. Mountains were all around them, other cliff faces rising from the ground. Jungle grew thick with vines and moss growing up the sides of the mountains. Trees almost reached the top of the cliff they were on. It almost seemed to Mark that he could hop from cliff top to cliff top, like rocks across a river. Far in the distance, he could make out what he thought were the gates to Terra Nova. He sighed, still pulling his hand but feeling like the pain had indeed been worth it.

"Is that Terra Nova in the distance?" He asked Taylor. He nodded.

"Sure is."

The sounds of mid-morning were all around them, birds and bugs singing as they hunted and squawking out warnings to each other. The sun was hot, almost too hot, and Mark felt himself sweating through his black tee.

"So," Taylor said as he turned to face Mark. "Make any progress on the Maddy front?"

Mark smiled as he remembered their Friday night conversation. "A little, but it's a secret. Maybe you'll get to hear the rest of the story this week."

Taylor laughed. "Ah, a surprise huh? Well, good. Hopefully it has as much bang as it needs to win her back."

Mark snorted. "No pressure right?"

"Oh no!" Taylor exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder. "There's lots of pressure! This is your woman we're talking about. Whatever you have planned better be a hell of a show."

Mark just shook his head. Leave it to Taylor to state the obvious, without pretense, and leave all the pressure squarely where it belonged. No pressure indeed…

The rest of the day went significantly less well than the first fourth. Going down the mountain went fine, the last thing the rest of the day that did. Taylor told Mark to drive them down to the river, a couple clicks away, which he did, but ended up getting them stuck in a mud hole which they had to push the vehicle out of themselves. That took the better part of an hour. Once they made it to the river, they took a break to fish and eat but fishing was something Mark had never done before and he was horrible at it. His wire got tangled several times, he didn't catch any fish, his lure broke, and, to top it all off, he pulled the line out of the water a little too enthusiastically and managed to get the hook stuck in his own arm. He had ripped it out roughly, growling at himself and putting a bandage over it. Taylor had laughed, and Mark had eventually seen the humor in the situation.

After that, they went rafting down the river a couple clicks, only far enough that they could walk back to the rover. Mark proved to be terrible at this also. With his hands already shaking and weak from the climb earlier, they were barely able to hold a paddle, much less use one with any success, and he managed to plow them straight into several rocks, actually capsizing the entire boat at one point and tossing them both into the frigid river. They managed to get out in one piece but they were plus several bruises that hadn't been there before. Taylor managed to laugh this off as well but Mark was feeling incompetent and a little fed up with it all. When he told Taylor this, he brushed it off saying no one got better unless they failed several hundred times.

On their walk back to the rover, Mark managed to fall several times, once catching himself too hard with a hand and jamming his wrist. When they finally got back to the rover, Mark collapsed his torso onto the rover seat, his feet still on the ground.

"Why," his muffled voice moaned. "Why am I condemned to such a fate." He had a fleeting thought that he'd been living with Dirk too long if he was talking like that. Taylor just laughed and got in the rover.

That night, he trudged home, shoved the door to their house open, dropped his gear in a pile, and let his body drop to the floor. His roommates who were sitting at the counter just stared at his filthy form, bursting out laughing at the same time. Mark groaned.

"If I ever agree to go on a day trip with Taylor again, shoot me."

They just kept laughing.

OOOOO

Taylor returned home late that night, wiped out but happy about the day he'd been able to spend with Mark. Wash was sitting on his couch, staring at her tablet when he entered. Her hair was down, spilling over her shoulders, her body clothed in a thin black tank top and maroon sweat pants. She looked up and smiled at him, bursting out laughing when she took in his form.

"Long day?" she asked, amused. His clothes were covered in dry mud. Where they were once black, they now looked brown with sections of black peeking through. His gear was also thoroughly covered. His gray hair stuck out every which way, with leaves and twigs hanging on for dear life. His face was caked with smeared dirt, leaving only his piercing blue eyes untouched by nature's wrath.

He smiled at her. "Want a kiss Wash?" He dropped his gear and started into the house, arms spread. She was up so quick he hardly saw her move.

"Oh no you don't," she said, putting down her tablet. "If you get mud all over this house, you're cleaning it up!"

Taylor laughed at her, not slowing his steps. "Wash, it is _my _house."

She shook her head, murder in her eyes. "That depends on how you look at it."

Taylor could tell she wasn't truly angry. If she was, he'd know it. Holding back an amused chuckle, he continued moving towards her, all the while backing her into a corner. He knew she could have gotten away any time she wanted but, he could tell she wanted to play along. When only a foot of space separated them, Taylor reached out a hand to touch her face but she stopped him before he could.

"Ach! You touch me; you do the dishes for a week!"

He could tell she was serious this time and considered if it was worth it. Deciding it was, he chuckled and pressed his body full onto hers, capturing her lips in a deep kiss. After a moment, he pulled away and she shook her head, an annoyed smile on her face.

"So, dishes for a week huh?" She asked.

He shrugged. "You know Wash, some things in life are worth the pain."

She looked into his eyes for a moment, still amused, and then pushed him hard away from her. "All right, that's enough. Shower, now."

Taylor raised his hands in surrender. "All right, all right. But only if you come with me."

She laughed loudly. "With all that mud all over you? I don't think so. Now march!"

Taylor smiled, trying to decide if it was worth picking her up and putting her in the shower. _No,_ he thought, _that would not be pretty._ Besides, he kind of liked it when she ordered him around. He gave her a mock salute and made his way to the shower. How he and Wash had ended up together, he would never know. But, he was glad they had.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Maddy woke up Monday morning, sighing as she thought about going to school. The weekend had been enjoyable enough. Her family and the Kaels, a family with a 6 year-old-daughter, had gone back to the river on Saturday. Maddy had enjoyed entertaining Zoe and her friend Lilly. She hadn't felt much like swimming. Sunday had been a stay at home day and Maddy had had too much time to herself. All she could think about was Mark.

Sighing, she rose from her bed, going to her closet and choosing clothes for the day. As she pulled on her pants, she tried to button them but they were too small. After a moment of confusion, trying to pull the button together, her brain comprehended what had happened. She smiled widely and laughed, bounding from her room and into the stirring house.

"Mom!" she called. "Mom, guess what!"

Her mother and father were sitting on the porch as usual, and Lis turned to see what was going on. "What is it honey?"

Maddy came out to them, all smiles. "Look!" she said as she pulled up her shirt, revealing her too small pants. "I can't button them!"

Her mother smiled and laughed. "Well honey, we knew it was bound to happen one of these days, right?"

She nodded, still smiling widely. "I guess it just makes it seem more real somehow."

Her father smiled at her too and looked at her mother. "Yeah, I remember when your mom was pregnant with Josh, she certainly didn't have your reaction to not being able to fit into her pants anymore."

Lis rolled her eyes at him and gave him a light slap on the arm. "I think I just preferred to be big all at once. I hated being in between; it just made me feel fat."

Maddy smiled. "Well, the kids will love this. They've been measuring my stomach every day to see if it's growing and so far, it hasn't grown enough for them to notice anything. Today they will!"

Her mother laughed. "Do you have clothes that will fit you Maddy?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'll just wear a dress. No problem."

With that, she almost bounded away but her mother stopped her. "Maddy, just a minute."

She turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

"You need to go in for another check-up soon. We should be able to tell you the sex of the baby too." Lis said it quietly; sensitive that Maddy may not be very happy about that.

Maddy's face fell. "Do I have to go today? Can I wait… longer?"

Her mother nodded. "You can. It should be in the next couple weeks. I just wanted to let you know that we can tell you what sex the baby is, if you want to know. But, if you don't, you can wait too."

Maddy nodded, her face sad. "I just… I really want Mark and me to find out… together, you know?"

Her mother smiled sadly, getting up to give her a hug. "I know honey," she said after she pulled away. "I know. Just give it some time."

Maddy left quickly after that and Lis sighed sadly, watching her go. Jim watched Elisabeth's expression and leaned forward to put down his coffee cup.

"Hey," he said, standing and pulling her into a hug. "It's going to be all right you know."

She nodded into his bare chest. He could feel tears begin to wet his skin. Holding her tighter, he reached over her shoulder to close the door to the patio.

"Hey," he said as her tears started coming in earnest. "What is it Elisabeth?" He kissed her lightly on the top of the head, holding her close. After a moment, she managed a reply.

"Oh Jim, it's just- I had all these events happening so differently in my head. Maddy would be happily married and _ready_ for children. She would be calling me or walking over and showing me her stomach, not coming in from her room! She's so young! And her and Mark aren't ready for this. I just wanted this to happen differently. She's my baby girl. I still remember when I was pregnant with _her_. It feels like just last year. How can she be having a baby?"

Jim held her tighter as she cried, running a hand through her hair. After a moment, she pulled back from him. Looking into her dark eyes, he wiped tears from her face.

"I know its hard Lis, but it really is going to work out. Maddy is a very mature teenager and even though she's a teenager, she has us to help her out."

His blue eyes looked softly into hers and she managed a smile. He leaned down and connected their lips, letting his kiss be a comforting, familiar place for her. She kissed him back, lightly at first but growing deeper. Her salty tears wet their lips and Jim was surprised at the urgency he felt in her kiss. Snaking his arms around her, he held her close, feeling her body flush against his. She pulled away suddenly, holding his face in her hands.

"I love you Jim."

He smiled at her, running his hands down her torso. "I love you too Elisabeth."

OOOOO

When Maddy arrived in Zoe's class that day, the children accosted her as usual with the measuring tape. This time, instead of being disappointed and putting the measuring tape away sulkily, they had a very different reaction.

Lilly was measuring her and she told the number to Zoe, who was next to her. When Zoe heard her, she looked at the paper where they were writing down the numbers. Her eyes widened and her face broke into a delighted smile.

"Look, Lilly, look!" she pointed at the number and Lilly looked at it. They both squealed with delight and the other children gathered around to view the numbers.

"Miss Ashlynn!" cried Andrew, the boy who had asked about melons. "Look Miss Ashlynn! Her stomach is growing just like yours did!"

She came over from her seat at the table, wobbling a little as she did. Leaning over slightly, she looked at the numbers he was holding up to her. "That's great guys!" she exclaimed. "The baby is getting bigger inside Maddy."

She smiled at Maddy who actually smiled back.

"Yep," she said with a bounce. "Do you know what happened when I tried to put my pants on this morning?"

The children around her shook their heads, waiting for her to tell them.

"They didn't fit!" They all burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard. Maddy rolled her eyes in Ashlynn's direction and she smiled at her.

They started a chart on the wall called, "Baby Shannon's growth." For Ashlynn, the children had recorded her waist size on a chart but nothing else. This time, Ashlynn decided they should learn a little more about how babies grow inside. So, they wrote the number of weeks at the top, Maddy's waist size, and then they drew a picture of the baby fetus. At this point, the baby was about seven centimeters long. The children had a good time drawing pictures of what they thought the baby looked like. Several of them looked suspiciously like dinosaurs.

It was about half way through the afternoon when a soldier knocked on the door of their room. Maddy was reading a book aloud to the class and they were sitting enraptured, as only children could. She looked up to see who was calling and immediately recognized Dirk, one of Mark's roommates. Assuming something was wrong, she rose and quickly made her way to the door, all the children's eyes on her.

"Miss Shannon," Dirk said in his slightly amused voice. "I bear gifts!"

She frowned at him, wondering what he was bringing her in the middle of his shift, in full gear. From behind his back he revealed a large bunch of flowers. They were long stemmed, with tiny red flowers covering the top half of the stems. The vibrancy of the color made the flowers seem to pop out from their roots on the stalk. She took them tentatively, reading a note that was attached to them.

'Red for Renew'.

"Just the first of many my lady." With a smile, he bowed low, kissed her hand, and waved at the watching children. They giggled.

She watched him walking down the hall, almost calling after him for confirmation that they were from Mark, but she didn't need confirmation; she knew. A small smile tugging at her lips, she turned back to the class.

"Yen," Ashlynn said, "can you get a vase for Miss Maddy?"

One of the children nodded and ran to a cupboard to get a vase, handing it up to her with two hands. The children went back to their story while Maddy put water in the vase and tended to the flowers. She decided to put them in the window at the school instead of bringing them home. Carefully setting them up so no one could knock it over, she slid the note under the vase and left it so the words were clearly visible.

The flowers Mark had picked for her only grew in one place in Terra Nova. They did grow within the bounds of the gates, but only in one select area in the orchards. It was a place that she and Mark had often wandered in search of solitude. When they had first found the place, Maddy had exclaimed at the flowers, mentioning their scientific name and many other facts she was sure Mark didn't want to hear. He had laughed at her and smiled. It had been there they had truly been alone for the first time and it was that place they continued to visit and call their own.

'Red is for Renew'.

Maddy smiled about the image all the way home. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

OOOOO

The next day was Tuesday and Mark rose early to leave the gates in search of the orange flower he wanted. He knew about where they grew so it wouldn't be a search, exactly, but these flowers were the favorites of giant, flying bugs Mark had learned to hate. Dirk had offered to come with him and Mark had happily allowed him to. He would rather not be out there alone, facing the giant bugs. In any case, Mark still wasn't allowed OTG without a chaperone so, Dirk would have to do.

"You ready for this man!" Dirk asked enthusiastically as he climbed into the driver's seat of the rover they had just checked out.

Mark raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure. As long as you don't squeal like a girl when those bugs show up."

Dirk pushed it off with a wave of his hand. "Yeah, yeah, we both know _you're_ the one who squeals like a girl."

The gate was raised for them and they left the compound, the world already lightened to a light gray color. Mark could see the sky was overcast today, thick clouds covering the horizon. Maybe the rain would keep the bugs away.

"So," Dirk said as the rover bumped along over the uneven ground. "What's the catch phrase for this one?"

"Orange is for Opulence," Mark answered right away. Trevor had been writing the phrases, Dirk had been helping with the flowers and logistics, and Mark had simply been left with the task of making it all fit together; thinking of stories and incorporating memories into each flower.

Dirk nodded, his eyes ahead of him. "Do you think she's going to like being called opulent?" A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, betraying the fact that he was joking. Mark hit him.

"Opulent," Mark began, like he was quoting a dictionary. In reality he was quoting Trevor. "Lavishness, magnificence, richness. Characterized by, or exhibiting the aforementioned traits. Opulence."

Dirk had to laugh and shook his head. "You've been hanging around Trevor too much."

"Well, you haven't been having around him enough."

"My good sir," Dirk exclaimed, like he had jumped out of a Jane Austen novel, "my intelligence is sufficiently developed and needs no farther augmentation from an insufferable know-it-all like Trevor."

Mark rolled his eyes at him and smiled.

They arrived at the field relatively soon after and Mark spotted the flowers quickly.

"Over there," he said, pointing. "And it looks like they're clear of bugs for the moment."

Dirk looked a little relieved and Mark just shook his head, making his way over to the flowers.

"Well, should we just cut a bunch and get a move on?" Dirk asked.

"Sounds good to me." Mark took out his combat knife, taking one of the viney flowers by the stem and beginning to cut. Dirk did the same next to him. The moment they had managed to disconnect the flowers from the ground, a swarm of bugs appeared out of nowhere. And these were not just silly little bugs they could swat away with a brush of the hand; these were huge, prehistoric bugs that were big enough to take bits out of dinosaur hide. No one had yet had a problem with the bugs, but Mark really did not want to test their luck.

He took one look at the swarm, turned to Dirk, and yelled, "Run!"

With that, they were off. The bugs were swarming around their bodies as they ran towards the rover, cursing themselves for taking one without doors. Mark could feel one land on his back and he swatted at it, all the while holding tightly to the orange flower he had cut. Mark felt like he'd jumped into that ancient dinosaur movie, Jurassic Park, and was surprised Dirk hadn't made any snide comments about it. He was probably too busy not getting bit.

They managed to make it to the rover without too much trouble, swatting as they went, but the swarm descended on them the moment they stopped running.

"Go, go!" Mark yelled at Dirk, a little scared but a little exhilarated at the same time. The things he would do for love…

"You know," Dirk yelled at him, "when I signed up for helping you get Maddy back, I didn't think it would involve running for my life from a swarm of bugs!"

Mark let out a loud laugh, wondering what Maddy would say about this. Noticing a bug crawling on Dirk's back, he swatted it away quickly with a hand.

Even though they drove as fast as the rover would allow, the bugs still managed to take bites out of both of them. The teeth on the bugs were surprisingly sharp and it had them yelling in pain. It was half amused yelling at their predicament, but it still hurt like a mother.

Dirk was driving like a maniac, rushing over ridges, smashing down onto the ground below, plowing through trees and leaves without knowing what was on the other side. It was really a miracle they didn't both die in a rover crash. Even more amazing; Mark still had an intact flower when they spotted the gates for Terra Nova.

They must have looked a site: one rover followed closely by a black swarm of bugs, careening almost out of control towards the gates. As they approached, the gate was raised and the watch towers began to shoot low power sonic's towards the bug swarm. In little time, the still living bugs dispersed and Mark and Dirk pulled into Terra Nova, their rover and their bodies covered in mug, blood mixing with the mud splatters. The flower only had one small mud drop on it, but Mark saw the drop as more of a souvenir than anything else.

Wash approached them, shaking her head. "Reynolds, Parix, what the hell were you doing out there?" A smile was threatening to take over her face and Mark knew she was amused instead of angry. He jumped from the rover, holding tightly to his prize. Dirk was at his side a moment later, both standing at attention.

"At ease," Wash said dryly.

Mark relaxed his hand and held up the flower. "We went on a mission Ma'am, for the perfect orange flower. Ran into some bug trouble along the way."

She just shook her head. "All right soldiers, go get yourselves cleaned up. Mark, I expect you to be on time for your shift!"

He nodded with a smile. "Yes ma'am."

OOOOO

At school that day, Maddy was walking around, looking at everyone's work with Ashlynn when Trevor came to the door. He knocked lightly, his blond hair a curled mass on his head.

"Miss Shannon?" He called, looking at her expectantly. Ashlynn nodded at her, smiling and urging her to go. Maddy walked over to the door, looking at Trevor. She smiled thinly at him.

"I have another gift for you," he said with a smile as he revealed a beautiful orange flower from behind his back. It was a large flower and reminded her of a giant chrysanthemum. The flower had a sparkly sheen to it that came from the kind of pollen it produced. A tag was attached again and she read it: Orange is for Opulence.

She smiled. "Opulence huh?"

Trevor's eyes twinkled.

"You're the one thinking of the phrases aren't you?" Her eyes were amused and he could tell she wasn't angry.

"Maybe. But Mark always has to approve. And he does help with the brainstorming."

Maddy laughed a little and shook her head, turning away from him to put this newest flower in a vase by the window. It looked beautiful next to the red ones.

"Miss Shannon," Lilly said as she came to the window. "That flower is so beautiful!"

Maddy nodded, turning away from it. "It is, isn't it?"

"Miss Shannon," Lilly asked, her blue eyes shining. "Who gave them to you? The Daddy?"

Maddy nodded. "Yup, he did."

She giggled. "I think he loves you!"

As she ran off to join the rest of the class, Maddy had to smile a little. Yes, perhaps he did.


	16. Chapter 16

Hi guys, thanks for continuing to read this story! I'm sorry it was a little longer than I intended for this next installment. I am hoping to continue posting once a week, so please expect another chapter next week. Thanks to all.

Chapter 16

That afternoon, Maddy had to walk home one of the kids from class. Nina was a friend of Zoe's who Maddy often ended up walking home. The day was sunny, as usual, and a warm breeze was on the air. Taking both girls hands in hers, she swung her arms, making both of them giggle.

"Miss Maddy," Nina asked as they cut through a small park on their way towards Nina's house.

"Yes, Nina?" Maddy said, smiling at her.

"That soldier Mark got you those flowers right?"

Maddy nodded. Nina seemed to be thinking about something.

"Well, I think that he loves you a lot because, you know that orange flower?" She turned her dark eyes up to Maddys to make sure she was listening. "Well, those flowers don't grow inside Terra Nova, only outside."

Nina's father was a botanist and had shared much of his flower knowledge with his oldest daughter. He thought it went over her head but Maddy was surprised at how much Nina remembered.

"Well," Maddy replied. "Mark is outside the gates a lot on patrol so he probably just picked it up on his rounds."

Nina shook her head, looking adamant. "No! Those flowers aren't just OTG, they're really hard to get! Dad says that these bugs, that are like giant horse flies or something, like to nest in the flowers because of something the pollen does." She tried to remember for a moment and then gave up. "I don't know what it does. Anyway, the bugs are really mean and they attack in swarms of like a million at a time. Dad said their teeth are strong enough to bite through dinosaur hide!"

Maddy's expression was something between shock and horror. Zoe giggled at her. "Maddy, you look like Daddy after he saw me barf!"

The expression rolled off Maddy's face as she rolled her eyes at Zoe. "TMI Zoe. Nina, is that really true? Is it dangerous to get the flowers?"

Nina giggled again. "Well, Mom saw one of those flowers one time and asked if she could have one. Dad said if she wanted him in one piece, then she couldn't have one." Both she and Zoe laughed at that, swinging Maddy's arms in glee. Maddy shook her head, hoping that Mark was still in one piece.

They dropped Nina off at her house, with a wave at her father, who was waiting for her on the porch. They were just on their way back when someone grabbed Maddy around the waist and twirled her, causing her to lose a long shriek. The person set her down a moment later and she whirled to see who it was. Josh's laughing blue eye met her dark ones. She slapped him hard on the arm.

"Josh! You scared me half to death!"

He just kept laughing, Zoe joining in.

"Maddy," Zoe said, "You screamed like a raptor was attacking you!"

Giving him another good smack, she started on her way without them. Josh jogged to catch up, Zoe holding onto his hand.

"Hey!" he said as he came up next to her. "Zoe and I are hurt you don't want to walk home with us!"

Maddy gave him a death look and turned forward. "Well, it's your own fault for scaring me." She crossed her arms over her chest but Josh could tell she wasn't really angry.

"So, I heard some news about Mark."

Maddy turned to him, continuing to walk. "What kind of news?"

Josh raised his eyebrows and sighed. "Well, bad things first, Laura's telling everyone what happened."

Maddy stopped walking and turned to Josh, almost banging into him in her haste to clarify. "What?"

He pulled back, his hands outstretched in surrender. "Hey, don't take it out on me. I'm just the messenger. But yeah, she's telling everyone she can what happened with her and Mark."

Maddy's eyes spit daggers at Josh but she was really imagining Laura in his place. "I am going to kill that-

"Hey Maddy!" Josh said loudly before she swore. "Little ears!"

Maddy glanced at Zoe, who was standing between them looking at her curiously.

"Who's Laura?" Zoe asked.

Maddy sighed. "Uh… Laura is just another soldier."

Josh sighed. "Look Maddy, there's nothing you can do about it anyway but I just thought you should know, maybe tell mom and dad before someone else does."

Maddy groaned, turning away from Josh. "Mom and dad," she said, making it sound more like a curse.

"Anyway," Josh said, moving himself sneakily back into Maddy's field of vision. "I do have some good news."

He waited with a held back smile on his face until Maddy glared at him.

"Okay, okay, Mark told Wash what happened and she's put restrictions in place." Josh smiled at her. Maddy too, managed to break a small smile.

"He did?"

Josh shrugged. "That's the word on the street."

"You make it sound like you're a gangster or something," Maddy said, shaking her head.

"Well," Josh said, looking at her covertly. "Maybe I am."

Maddy just rolled her eyes at him. Zoe took Maddy's hand and started tugging on it, Josh's in the other hand.

"Guys! Hello! I'm still here!" Zoe looked a little put out. "What are you talking about?" Her face was pouty; she could tell this was a grown up conversation she was going to be left out of. Maddy laughed and knelt down.

"Sorry Zoe! We didn't mean to ignore you. How about when we get home, I'll make you something special to make up for it."

Zoe nodded, happy to accept the offer.

They continued on their way, Maddy a little happier than she had been before, despite the things Laura was spreading around the colony. On their way home, they passed the new developments where Mark was supposedly spending his days. Maddy looked over curiously, wondering if Mark was anywhere in sight. She spotted Mark a moment later, high up on a roof, straddling it with a leg on either side, cargo pants on the bottom and shirtless on the top. She couldn't help but notice the chiseled form his body made, slightly wet from a long day of work, the strong sun beating down on him. He seemed tanner than he had been the last time she'd seen his chest. She wasn't close enough to make out clear facial expressions but she knew it was him.

Another man came up a ladder and handed him some water. She could see them talking, Mark's face breaking into a smile and the soft tinkle of a laugh reaching her from her distance away. He seemed good, he seemed happy. She hoped he was, but something inside her wished he wasn't, something inside her wished he was miserable without her. She knew that was selfish but she still felt that way.

A moment later, she noticed the man on the ladder pointing to her and Mark turned, noticing her for the first time. He seemed to look at her for a moment and then a wide smile broke onto his features. He raised a tentative hand in hello and she waved back. She almost wished he would come down and say hello but she could tell he wasn't going to; not yet, it was too soon.

Just then, she felt Zoe tugging on her arm. "Maddy, can we please go! You've been standing here for like… ever! I want my snack!"

Maddy turned to her, a smile in her eyes. "Okay, Zoe, I'm coming."

She turned back to wave goodbye and found his eyes still on her. He waved goodbye too and they made their way home.

OOOOO

When they entered the house, three in a row, they found their dad sitting on the couch looking at his tablet, and honestly looking a little lonely. Looking up at them as they entered, a smile crossed his face and he quickly stood.

"Hey guys! Everyone home at once huh?"

Zoe ran towards him after kicking off her shoes and he pulled her up to him. "Daddy, can we play a game together?"

"Sure Zoe, what came do you want to play?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I just want to play a game… with everyone."

Her father made a show of thinking hard. "Hmm, I don't know Zoe, what game can we all play? I just can't think of any."

She laughed and smacked him on the shoulder. "You're kidding Daddy. Don't be silly."

He made a show of ignorance. "I'm not kidding! What game do you think we should play then, if you're so smart?"

She smiled shyly, looking over at Maddy. "Charades?"

Maddy rolled her eyes. Of course she wanted to play that game.

"Charades!" Her father exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever played that game!"

"Yes you have Daddy, don't be silly."

Her dad made a pouting face. "But I like being silly."

Zoe giggled. "I know." Her face suddenly grew thoughtful. "Do you think Maddy's baby will like charades?"

Her father looked at Maddy and she came closer to Zoe, a smile in her eyes. "Well, Z, it will be a while before my baby will be able to play charades! It will have to watch for a while. But, when the baby is old enough, I'm sure it will like playing charades."

Zoe smiled and nodded. "Good! Josh!" She called out his name. He had disappeared into his room, as usual. "Josh!" she called again.

A moment later, Josh slid open the door to his room, looking over at Zoe. "What is it Z?"

"Um, will you play charades with us before dinner?"

With all three Shannon's staring at Josh, two of whom could do excellent puppy eyes, Josh didn't stand a chance. He let out a breath and rolled his eyes.

"How can I say no! I'm completely outnumbered. All right, I'll play."

Josh hated the game, hence the reluctance.

They made two teams: Josh and Maddy vs. Dad and Zoe. The other team had to act out the word for the guessing team to guess. Zoe started, her father whispering a word to act out. She got on all fours, straightening her joins out so she looked quite silly, trundling along. Then, she stood up and made her arms really long in front of her, pretending to grab something and bringing it to her mouth.

"Diplodocus!" Maddy called out. Zoe relaxed and nodded, smiling.

"Josh, you go," Maddy said, nudging her brother. He reluctantly stood, giving her a look, after she whispered something in his ear. Then, he started running around the house, half sitting down, with his hands in front of him like he was driving. It was quite comical. Zoe was laughing so hard she couldn't even guess. Her dad, after getting over his own laughter, called out,

"Water skiing! Wake boarding! Snowboarding?" He stopped guessing when Josh gave him a disbelieving expression. Then he tried sitting in one place and moving his hands like he was driving. That just served to throw his father off even more. After the timer went off, Josh yelled out,

"Rover! Rover you idiots!" He wasn't really angry, just annoyed.

"Hey!" His father responded. "Language!" His tone was warning but not angry.

Josh rolled his eyes at him and then smiled, dropping next to Zoe and hugging her. "I don't really think you're an idiot. Just when you're playing charades."

His father gave him a stare but decided to let it go.

They continued playing until their mother came home. She entered the house to find Zoe and Josh on the floor in the living room, Zoe pretending to pluck imaginary bugs from Josh's hair. Maddy and Jim both knew what it was, but they continued to guess wrong so she would keep doing it, their bodies shaking with laughter. Poor Josh looked like he was ready to run away forever.

"Hey guys!" their mom called from the door. "Having fun?"

They barely spared her a glance as they continued to laugh and Josh continued to look annoyed. Elisabeth just shook her head.

OOOOO

After dinner, Josh retreated to the solitude and safety of his room and Zoe brought out her dinosaur dolls to play with. Maddy knew now was the time to tell her parents what happened, before they heard it from anyone else. She approached her mom, who was just settling down on the couch to read, with Zoe nearby.

"Um, mom?" Maddy said uncertainly.

Her mother looked up at her from her tablet. "Yes Maddy?"

"Um, can I talk to you about something?"

She put down her tablet, looking a little wary. "Of course, you know that. What's up?"

Maddy sat next to her, eyeing Zoe but deciding she didn't care if Zoe heard. She would probably hear it from her friends anyway. "Well, I just… I never told you the whole reason Mark and I broke up."

Her mother looked at her uncertainly, waiting.

"And, well, Josh just told me today that pretty much half the colony knows about it already so I thought I should tell you before anyone else does."

Her mother's face had now descended into utter worry. "Well, tell me quickly! Don't leave me hanging!"

"Okay, it's just… Mark kissed another girl the other day and, well, it's more complicated than that." She took a deep breath, seeing the look on her mother's face, and started talking very quickly. "See, this girl that Mark knows, she's a soldier too, she has been pretty much attacking him and coming onto him for a while now. And that was because I guess they were kind of together a few months ago and after Mark and I got back together she was still really forward with him and approaching him all the time. So, that first night of Mark's punishment, she approached him and he kissed her back. Well, that's why he ran away, because he was scared and hurt and worried. And he told me the next day what he had done and that's why I broke up with him. But, now he's trying to get me back and I think that maybe this time he really means it."

Her mother stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "You know that whole paragraph you just spouted sounded like one long word?"

Maddy laughed shortly, letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "I tell you all that and that's all you can say?"

"No," her mother said. "I'm still processing that string of sounds!"

Maddy fell silent as her mother looked at her carefully.

"Maddy," she began. "You know the most important thing in a relationship is trust right?"

Maddy nodded.

"Well," she continued, "if you can't trust your partner, then you don't really have that person. I need to be able to trust your father with anything, because he's the person I chose to share my entire life with, everything I am and everything I will be. Do you understand what that means?"

Maddy blew out a breath. "I don't think I'll understand what that means until I'm married."

Her mother smiled and nodded. "That's probably true. But, my point is, you need to be able to trust Mark completely. If you don't think you can do that, then you shouldn't get back together with him. You need to wait until you know you can trust him, understand?"

Maddy nodded and smiled a little. "I know. But how do I know if I can trust him?"

Her mother shrugged, giving her a sad smile. "You don't. We never know for sure if we can trust people, we make a decision to trust them. When other people break that trust, it makes it harder for us to decide to trust them again in the future. You're not going to wake up one morning and magically be ready to trust Mark again. You're going to have to make a decision to trust him again, based on his actions."

Maddy nodded, thinking about that.

"Just don't give your heart to him too readily Maddy. You need to be sure you're ready to be with him again. But don't let this keep you from giving your heart to him again. If you think he's changed, if you think he's put his head on straight again, then he probably deserves a second chance."

Maddy smiled and nodded. Zoe put down her dinosaur and climbed on the couch to sit next to her mother.

"So," Zoe began, "If Daddy kissed someone else, would you give him a second chance?"

Lis laughed. "As a matter of fact, I would. Because I love him so much! Just like I love you." She pulled her to her and kissed her on the head.

"Just be careful with your heart Maddy," she continued. "It's not an easy thing to mend."

Maddy smiled and then looked at her mother questioningly. "Um, speaking of dad, would you mind telling him? I don't want him to hear it from someone else and freak out."

Her mother laughed loudly and pulled Maddy in to her on the other side from Zoe. "I can do that. Maybe I'll choose a time when no one else is around."

Maddy laughed lightly against her mother's chest. "Just tell me when and I'll leave!"


	17. Chapter 17

Hello again everyone, I'm terribly sorry it's been so long since my last update. Before I became a fan fiction writer, I was (and still am) an avid fan fiction reader, and I used to hate it when people didn't update. Well, hopefully this will be the last long stretch of no updating (unless I warn you beforehand). A family member of mine is dying and with that, much of my time disappeared. I do apologize and hope you enjoy this chapter.

The next morning during their daily coffee time, before anyone else was awake, Lis decided she should tell Jim the news. She knew he would be furious and would probably be difficult to restrain, but she knew it was best if he heard it from her.

Sliding open the door to the patio, she found Jim already sipping his steaming coffee, breathing deeply of the early morning air. It was another beautiful day with the whitish blue sky clear above them. He smiled at her.

"Good morning beautiful," he said, taking in her appearance, her well-formed frame visible through the tight tank top she was wearing. She saw his eyes draw her body and smiled at him, leaning down to kiss him. He reached a hand around her head before she could pull away and deepened the kiss. Smiling through it, she gave him a light slap on the arm and he released her.

"What?" He said with laughter in his voice. "I can't kiss my wife?"

She shook her head. Then, her face grew serious. "Jim, there's something we need to talk about."

She sat down on the chair next to him and he looked at her, worried. "Okay… what is it?"

His blue eyes were searching her face, his heart starting to beat faster. Whenever Elisabeth said they needed to talk about something, it was never good.

"Maddy told me the reason that Mark and her broke up."

He looked at her, waiting, concerned. "Yeah…"

She cleared her throat. "Apparently, Mark kissed someone else."

His expression was just as she had imagined it would be; shock and then severe anger, his blue eyes flashing, his face setting, his jaw muscles clenching. He immediately rose and paced to the side of the patio, one hand on his hip and the other over his mouth. Lis remained quiet, letting him think. After a moment, he turned back to her.

"So what now? Maddy obviously can't trust him but he's still the father of her child."

Lis sighed, having known this would happen. She rose and placed her hands on his arms. "Jim, just because Mark kissed someone else does not mean he's completely untrustworthy-

"No, Elisabeth, you can't-

"Don't interrupt me!" Lis cut him off. He set his lips into a thin line. "You said yourself if you were in Mark's shoes at his age, you would have bolted. Well, Mark hasn't. And this kissing thing is not as simple as it seems."

She proceeded to tell him the whole story about Laura and Mark, all the while keeping her hands on his arms and holding his eyes. When she finished, Jim still looked angry.

"The situation doesn't excuse anything," Jim said harshly.

Lis sighed. "I know Jim. Of course it doesn't but it does help explain it, hey?"

Jim looked at her, pressing his lips together and then sighing. "Yeah, I guess."

"Jim, Mark isn't a bad kid. He's just confused. But, him going to Lieutenant Washington with this problem shows a lot of maturity. And, telling Maddy right away does too."

Jim nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, well, I still don't like it."

Lis laughed. "Well, neither do I but we're going to have to deal with it."

Jim sighed, pulling Elisabeth to him. "I just hope they'll be ready for this kid when it comes."

Lis laughed. "Well, of course they won't be ready Jim. Do you remember what a basket case you were when Josh came?"

Jim had to laugh, shaking his head. "If I recall I became a '17-year-old hormonal wreck with no sensitivity or responsibility.'"

Lis's laughter made Jim's body shake. "Well, it was true!" She defended herself.

"Yeah, I guess it was."

OOOOO

Mark woke up early again on Wednesday morning, entering Trevor's room to make sure he got out of bed also. It was his turn to accompany him OTG. Today, they were going for a yellow flower, one that Mark had noticed when Taylor and he had gone climbing. Mark had only noticed it growing on the side of the cliff, but he was determined to get it for Maddy.

Mark managed to check out the equipment he needed and met up with Trevor, who was waiting for him in a rover by the gate.

"What's all that for?" Trevor asked, looking at the equipment with a little apprehension in his eyes.

"Well, I didn't tell you but we're going to have to climb a mountain to get to this flower. Hopefully not far, but climb none-the-less." He smiled at him as he swung himself into the rover. Trevor raised his eyebrows, making no move to touch the rover ignition.

"You expect me to climb a mountain with you?" He said it slowly, like he was trying to decide if Mark was being serious or not.

"Look, it's not that hard! I'll tell you what to do. You're strong, you'll be able to do it."

He gave him a wary look. "I have a feeling this is like me telling you that you'd be good at embroidery, that embroidery isn't very hard."

Mark laughed loudly. "Are you saying it's actually really difficult? And that I'd be horrible at it?"

Trevor shrugged and turned the key to start the rover. "Maybe."

They made their way to the cliffs where Taylor and he had climbed the week before. Arriving, they parked the rover and Mark scanned the cliff.

"There." He pointed to the right and a little ways up. "It's not too far. That looks like the closest one."

Trevor shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "You know, if any botanist saw us doing this, Taylor would never be able to use us again. We'd be kidnapped and used by the botany department for life."

Mark laughed. "That wouldn't be so bad would it?"

Trevor rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's get this show on the road."

They managed to get to the flower without much difficulty but getting it off the cliff presented a whole other set of problems. It was pretty well covered in thorns, which Mark had not noticed before.

"Do you think they're poisonous?" Mark asked Trevor, who was standing on the other side of the flower, precariously balanced on a small ledge.

"Oh, that'd be nice, 'here honey, I'm trying to win back your affection so I'm giving you a poisonous flower.'"

Mark let out a short laugh and shook his head. "Seriously though, should we just forget it and pick a different one? I mean, in this jungle, you never know."

Trevor considered the flower for a long moment. "I don't know, I think we should try it. The thorns look nasty, but I think that's the point. They're probably not poisonous."

"How would you know?" Mark asked, curious. Trevor seemed unwilling to answer and Mark looked at him hard. After a moment, a smile crept onto his face.

"There's a girl, isn't there? And she's a botanist." At the expression on Trevor's face, Mark knew he'd hit the nail on the head. He laughed loudly.

"All right, when we get back, I get the full story. For now, are you sure this isn't going to kill me?"

Trevor shrugged. "It seems safe enough to me."

Mark shook his head. "Okay, give me those gloves you have on your belt and I'll cut it off."

They had the task completed in five minutes and were on their way down. Mark was trying to climb down carefully with one hand, which didn't prove to be too difficult. In any case, it wasn't very far. But, the last three feet, Mark landed a bit too hard and managed to clasp the flower's stem hard in his hand, the thorns pushing right through the glove. He yelled loudly and opened his hand, shaking the flower out of it the thorns coming out blood-soaked. Trevor unhooked himself and came over quickly.

"Did it stick you?"

Mark, who was grimacing in pain, glared at him. "What do you think?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"All right, let's get you back home. And the flower too. That's another story for the saga of Maddy and the flowers."

Mark would have laughed but his hand hurt too much.

OOOOO

When they got back, Mark found out the thorns did have some kind of venom in them. His hand had swelled up to the size of a dinner plate, his fingers unbendable. Trevor was driving as fast as he could, visibly watching Mark's hand grow in size. Mark had to keep reminding him to keep his eyes on the road.

Mark went to the infirmary quickly and Dr. Shannon treated him, giving him a talking to like a mother would. He was both pleased and a little bashful at her dressing down. Apparently the venom was not poisonous but would leave his hand swollen for at least the next couple hours. She gave him something to stop its spread and then released him.

Shaking his head at his stupid luck, he made his way home, intent on finding Trevor and the flower. When he pushed open the door, Trevor was there, the flower sitting in a vase of water on the counter.

"You all patched up?" Trevor asked.

Mark nodded. "Yep, and I received a dressing down from Dr. Shannon too."

Trevor laughed. "Well, you definitely deserved it."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Dirk is on drop off duty right?"

"Yep."

"Should we tell him it's poisonous?"

Trevor laughed. "While I would find it highly amusing to see Dirk suffer from the pain it's venom causes, I don't think Maddy would be too amused if the same thing happened to her."

"Yeah," Mark said, "about Maddy, do you think we should still give it to her?"

Trevor shrugged and got off the stool he was sitting on. "It's not gonna kill 'er. And if you tell her not to touch the thorns, it shouldn't be a problem."

He was making his way towards the bathroom. "Anyway," he continued, "I got duty in like ten minutes so I'll see you tonight."

"Sounds good." Mark said.

OOOOO

Mark decided to give the flower to Maddy anyway, with explicit instructions to Dirk about its poisonous thorns. He hoped she didn't think it meant he thought their relationship was poisonous. That would be a disaster. It took Trevor and Mark some time to figure out a good word to go with yellow, so by the time they did it was almost the end of the school day. Maddy was at school waiting all day for another flower. When it was almost time for class to be over, she thought Mark had actually forgotten, but Dirk came in the nick of time and called her to the door.

"Sorry I am so late, my lady," Dirk said, a smile making his dark eyes twinkle. "Y is a rather hard letter to match a word with."

Maddy laughed in response and smiled. He revealed the flower from behind his back, his hand covered in a thick glove, obviously to protect him from the intense thorns that covered the plant. Maddy's eyebrows rose.

"It's a beautiful flower Dirk, but those thorns are nasty. You know they can cause numbness and severe swelling right?"

Dirks eyes danced in response to Maddy's comment and he loosed an amused laugh. "Yes, well, Mark found that out the hard way. We considered not giving it to you but… well, considering what they went through to get the flower in the first place, they didn't want it to seem a wasted effort."

Maddy's face looked at him, concerned. "Is he okay now?"

"Yeah yeah, no worries. I think your mom treated him. So," he said looking around, "do you have a vase I can put this in?"

"Oh, right," Maddy said as she jumped to action, grabbing a vase she'd brought from home in anticipation of the flower. "Here."

He carefully put the flower in the vase and then handed her the card: Yellow is for Yours Truly.

Maddy thought about that for a moment, frowning at the card and thinking it was a bit odd for Mark to write a card referring to himself. A moment later, she realized the depth of meaning in the card, tears actually beginning to well in her eyes. Dirk cleared his throat.

"Uh, anyway, I should go."

Maddy, seeming to realize he was still there, quickly blinked away the wetness. "Right. Hey, what do you mean all the effort they went through to get the flower?"

Dirk gave her a half smile, winking. "If I tell you that, I'll have to kill you." He nodded his head at her and then left, whistling his way down the hall. Maddy shook her head.

As she turned to put the vase on the window sill, she thought about the card. Mark was at the same time apologizing to her for being a coward and letting her know that he was hers and no one elses. It was probably the perfect saying and Maddy couldn't wait for the next flower.

OOOOO

That night, Mark made his way home, the sun getting low on the horizon. The construction crew had stayed late that day to finish a house they were working on and Mark was starving. When he arrived at his house, he pushed opened the door. Dirk was standing at the counter, chopping veggies with ease and looking quite like a professional chef.

"Double S alert!" he called loudly. Mark could hear Trevor groan from the other room.

"Take a shower!" Trevor's muffled voice came from behind his door. Mark just rolled his eyes, dropping his stuff in a pile next to the door.

"So," Mark asked as he leaned over the counter. "What's for dinner?"

Dirk looked at him with a twinkle. "Oh, just something I'm making up myself, in honor of your roaring success today with fraulein Maddy."

Mark smiled a little, his eyes questioning. "A roaring success huh?"

Dirk raised his eyebrows and started up a pan on the cooker. "As I recall, she actually had the mist of a tear upon her eye."

Mark smiled widely and got off the counter, clapping Dirk on the back.

"Trevor!" Mark called. "Trevor, guess what? Our saying today really got her!"

The door to Trevor's room slid open and he leaned on the doorframe, smiling widely at him. "Yeah, well, I told you it'd do the trick."

"Well, don't take all the credit, I _was _the one who thought of it!"

Trevor smiled. "All right, all right, I'll give it to ya."

Mark released Dirk's arm and Dirk stretched it out in mock pain. "Man, Mark, did you have to grip so hard? I'm not going to be able to sauté!"

Mark ignored him as he started putting veggies in the pan, turning instead to Trevor.

"So," Mark began, "spill it about this girl."

Trevor's face started to turn red and he looked bashful. Dirk stopped sautéing.

"What's this now?" Dirk asked quickly.

Mark turned to him with a smile. "Trevor has a crush."

It was too bad Dirk was in the process of sautéing because his reaction would have been priceless. As it was, he had to settle for words.

"Ah," he began, "the soft wind of love finally blows T's way, filling his dreams, pressing in on his thoughts, keeping him from sleep. Yes, love, the sweet love of a woman, a woman who is beautiful like a cool summers day, who's eyes are like the star studded night, who lips are full like the moon, and who's breasts- ow!"

Trevor had made his way over to Dirk and, discarding the heat of the pan, reached in and began pelting Dirk with hot onions.

"Hey man!" Dirk protested as he covered his face, "It's gonna burn! Do you want to eat charred food?"

Mark was laughing behind his hand but he could tell Dirk was getting a little annoyed. If there was one thing that annoyed Dirk, it was getting between him and his cooking dinner. Trevor backed off and Dirk quickly returned to the stove. While Trevor wasn't looking, Dirk took one more onion piece and threw it at him.

"Not the food man," Dirk said, "never mess with the food."

Trevor's brown eyes look at him and, even though Dirk was being serious, they looked at each other for long enough that Dirk cracked up. Trevor smiled too.

"So," Mark said again, "tell us about this girl."

Shrugging, Trevor smiled and his eyes looked far away. "She works in the botany department. I met her on rounds one day. She was so intent on looking at the flower she was holding, she walked right into me." He laughed a little as he remembered. "She sure can be flighty sometimes. And you're right Dirk, she is beautiful, but her eyes are more like the day sky than the night."

Mark and Dirk were watching him as his eyes went far away again. They glanced at each other and then laughed.

"Man," Dirk said shaking his head, "You are trippin'."

Trevor seemed to return and laughed. "Well, if I'm trippin' then Mark's got his face in the mud."

Dirk laughed loudly and Mark just rolled his eyes. "Amen to that!" Dirk responded. "And anyway, you stink so go take a shower. You're not eating dinner lookin' like that."

"All right, all right," Mark allowed and made his way to the bathroom.

OOOOO

Later that evening, after Mark and his roommates had enjoyed a great meal, a knock sounded at their door. Mark got up off the couch to answer it and found Wash standing there, looking grim.

"Alicia? What's up?" Mark asked, seeing the expression on her face.

"Can I come in?" Her tone was flat, not revealing anything.

Mark nodded and she entered, wordlessly closing the door behind her. She sat down on the bench they had in their entry way; something Dirk had made. It was a little wobbly but perfect for slipping shoes on and off. Mark sat next to her, the thin wooden seat far from comfortable. Wash cleared her throat, leaning forward to put her elbows on her knees.

"Look Mark, I don't know if you've already heard but, Laura's been spreading rumors like wildfire. She's letting everyone who will listen know that you kissed her and that you were an item _after_ you got Maddy pregnant."

Mark sat very still for a long moment, trying to process what she'd said. He could feel burning anger rising in his chest and he clenched his jaw as his breathing increased.

"Bitch…" he murmured under his breath. He dropped his face into his hands as he tried to let his anger go. Wash sighed.

"Mark, I wanted to tell you before you heard about it from anyone else. I'd be surprised if Dirk and Trevor haven't heard about it and I'm shocked you haven't yet." She paused, looking at him. "Look, there's nothing you or I can do about it so, just try to steer clear okay? And don't listen to what anyone else says. The only people who you need to worry about are the people you really care about. And they all know the story already."

Mark nodded from his bent over position, face still in his hands.

"You know," Wash continued, "I have some time before night shift duty. We can spar if you want, you know… work off some of that anger."

He considered for a moment, and then promptly got up, going to his room to collect his things.

They spared for a long time.


	18. Chapter 18

Thursday morning dawned rainy, an unusual happening for Terra Nova. Maddy could hear it pinging on the roof as she woke, glancing at the clock. It was five minutes before her alarm, so she lay in bed listening, hearing Zoe breathing deeply next to her. She put a hand on her steadily growing belly. Her mom said she could possibly feel the baby move as soon as next week. Maddy wondered what it would feel like. Mom said sometimes it just feels like indigestion. Maddy didn't know if she liked that thought.

Her alarm went off as scheduled and she reached over to turn it off, Zoe stirring in her bed. Rising, she went to her closet and selected another dress, making her way to the bathroom, thinking about her life and her baby. Then her thoughts turned to Mark. Would they be together? Would they get married? Maddy thought she loved him but she couldn't really know. She'd never been in love before, after all.

And what is love anyway? I mean, she knew it was something you feel, attraction to someone, caring about them. Maddy knew how she loved her family, how she would do anything to keep them safe. But, how she felt about Mark was different. She cared about him, yes, but how did she know if she loved him?

After a long shower, Maddy pulled up a stool to the counter and served herself breakfast that her mother had set out. Lis sat next to her, reading something, and Zoe was sitting at the table. Maddy cleared her throat and then screwed up her face.

"Mom," she asked, turning to her mother. "How do you know if you love someone?"

Her mother looked at her and smiled, laughing a little. "That's quite a question for seven in the morning."

Maddy shrugged and turned back to her breakfast. "Why is it any different than any other time? I mean, how did you know you loved Dad?"

Lis took a moment to consider. "Well honey, it took time. I had to get to know your father, understand what kind of person he was, hear his beliefs and experience his personality. I was attracted to him from the beginning but attraction is very different from love." She paused to think, looking out through the open door onto the patio. "Love is complicated. It's a feeling you have for someone, yes, but it's also a commitment." She turned to Maddy. "If I say, 'I love you' I'm also saying, 'I'm committed to be here for you no matter what… forever.' It means acting in a loving manner, even when I don't feel like I love you very much."

Maddy frowned. "So, it's like letting Josh have the last piece of cake, even though I really want it. Or like not saying something mean even though I'm really annoyed at Dad."

Lis smiled. "That's right." She slipped an arm around Maddy. "I don't think I can pinpoint one moment when I knew I loved your father. It was a gradual development of feelings for him. And now, I love your father so much more deeply than I thought possible when we married. But marriage is not without challenges and your love for each other will die unless you both make a commitment to keep it and work at it."

Maddy let out a small laugh. "Wow mom, I don't know if I'm ready for that."

Lis laughed also. "Well, luckily you don't have to be. But, you do have to be ready for your child and the unfortunate reality is that it was highly unplanned so you're going to have to be ready for some things that maybe would have been better happening later." Lis looked into her dark eyes and gave her a smile. "And Mark is going to be part of your life, like it or not, and you will have to make a commitment to live in harmony with him no matter what labels you decide to put on your relationship."

Maddy nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess I'm going to have to grow up a little faster than I wanted."

Lis pulled her into a tight hug as tears engulfed both of their eyes. "Maybe honey, maybe," she said softly. "But being an adult really isn't so bad."

Elisabeth's voice broke as she said it and she tried to smile through her tears. She could feel Maddy shaking against her as she rocked her back and forth. Her baby was going to be a mother. But in spite of the fact that she was a teenager, she couldn't think of any other adolescent who was more prepared for this life change than Maddy. She knew Maddy would make a wonderful mother, especially with her family around her to help.

"It's going to be okay Maddy," her mother whispered, "it really is."

OOOOO

That morning, Trevor offered to go with Mark again on his flower finding expedition.

"What's this now?" Dirk asked as he entered the main room, going for a bagel that was sitting on the counter.

Trevor shrugged. "I want to go with Mark this morning. I don't know what you guys were thinking, but, well, I was on night shift last night and I ran into-" he paused for a moment and looked bashful.

Dirk gave him a look. "Spit it out buddy."

"I ran into the girl."

Mark, who was sitting at the counter, frowned. "You mean Maddy?"

Dirk smiled and shook his head. "Naw, he means _his _girl."

Trevor's face became the color of tomatoes. "She's not my girl yet…" he mumbled.

"Yet!" Dirk said triumphantly as he did a little victory dance. "Did you hear that Mark? He said, not his girl _yet_!"

Mark rolled his eyes and yawned. "It's too early for you to have that much energy Dirk."

He stopped dancing and sat abruptly on a stool, hunching over and making his eyelids droop. "Okay… you're right. I'll just have to be boring and energyless like you. Ho hum…"

Mark smacked him across the head and Dirk laughed.

"I wouldn't complain," Mark said, "It's just that, you _always_ have that much energy."

Dirk shrugged, biting into his bagel. "What's life for?" except it came out more like, "hwas aif or?" and both Mark and Trevor gave him a look. He rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Trevor said, drawing out the word, "I was tryin' to say that, while I was on my night shift, I ran into her and I asked her about green flowers. Well, turns out there's this flower that grows underwater. It's green and it's not like seaweed or anythin', but it's actually a flower. She says they grow in the river down the way."

Mark thought about it for a moment. "Sounds good to me. Is there a catch? I mean, we've had to battle flesh eating bugs, cliffs, and numbness inducing thorns so far, what's the catch with this one?"

Trevor shrugged. "Don't know. She didn't mention anything."

Dirk rolled his eyes. "This is Terra Nova, there's going to be a catch."

They made their way out soon after, deciding they would both accompany Mark. This time, they stocked up on everything they thought they could need: inflatable boats, ropes, a huge first aid kit, food, water, spare tires, and more. The drive out was uneventful except for some rain but when they arrived at the river, all three men groaned and looked at each other in defeat.

Dirk threw his hands up. "I give up. These flower expeditions are getting more and more ridiculous."

Mark looked at him sideways. "I thought you were the one with limitless energy."

"I think the word was energyless," Trevor said, looking at him.

"Is that even a word?" Mark asked.

Dirk ignored him. "So… who's going in?"

Trevor let out a noise of refusal, Dirk stared, Mark groaned.

The river in front of them, the one that had been relatively calm the past weekend, was now a raging torrent of white water. How it got that way, Mark didn't know, but it probably had to do with the unusual amount of rain they'd been getting. As he stared at the current, he briefly wondered if giving Maddy leaves this time around would be acceptable…

"Okay guys, I'm going to have a look. T, did your girl say anything about where in the water these flowers are?"

He nodded. "Sure. She said they generally live close to the banks, so hopefully that's a good thing. They also don't like shade and they like rocky bottom, not sand."

Mark nodded. "Okay, see you two in a minute."

The downpour was such that, within ten seconds of being outside the rover, he was wet through. It was very muddy along the river bank and he had to watch his step to keep from slipping in. He sighed, thinking that someone On High was really making him work hard to win back Maddy's affections. He jogged lightly along the bank, searching the water for any glimpse of a flower. The rain, in addition to the white water, was making it virtually impossible to see into the liquid, even though it was entirely clear on a normal day.

It was ten minutes later when Mark heard a faint voice calling his name. He turned, the wind making it hard to hear, and saw Dirk standing a ways down the river from him, beckoning to him. He jogged over, and Dirk pointed to the river.

"There's a flower just under the surface there." He had to practically shout to be heard over the wind and rain. "Do you think you can get it?

Mark looked out at the spot Dirk was pointing too. It wasn't too far from the bank but it wasn't close enough to reach without going in. He kneeled down carefully in the mud and stuck a hand in the water. The current didn't seem too fierce at the edge. Maybe he could make it. He stood.

"Where's Trevor?" Mark's face was dripping, his nose having become a waterfall for rain water, his hair plastered to his head. Dirk pointed down the bank. Mark waved down at him and summoned him over. A moment later, they were all together.

"Okay guys, I'm going to wade in. The current's not bad close to the bank and it's pretty shallow here. I think I can make it far enough to grab the flower. Trevor, get the rope out of the truck and we'll tie it around my waist. Then, you guys twist it around that tree there so in case I do get caught in the current, I won't float away."

They both nodded and Trevor went to get the gear. He came back with a climbing harness, which Mark put on, and a rope, which they secured to Mark using carabineers and the climbing harness. Once everything was set and the rope was twisted around the tree, with Dirk and Trevor holding the end, Mark gave them a thumbs up and started wading into the water. Dirk and Trevor let the rope go carefully as Mark waded farther in.

The current grew stronger as he waded deeper. The rocky bottom started to drop off quickly as Mark waded to his mid-thigh. He was pretty sure the flower was close to the spot he was in, so he dug his feet in and began to search the water with his hands. Finding nothing but giant seaweed, he growled to himself and began to wonder if Dirk had just seen seaweed. Finally, he turned to the boys, gave them another thumbs up and sat down in the water, his head disappearing under the white water.

It was funny, the difference in atmosphere that a three foot move made. One minute he was standing in the stinging rain and wind, the noise assaulting his eardrums, the patter of rain on water reaching thunderous levels; and the next he was surrounded by water, noise muted to become an eerie collection of drips and taps, bumps and scrapes. He heard his hands grasp at the rocks on the floor, clanking them together, their noise amplified in the water. The storm above became a mere dream, something happening in another world. He looked around carefully, searching the unclear water for the elusive green flower. The current bobbed him and he dug his feet in deeper.

Then he saw it, just a short reach forward. It was obvious the current was much stronger there, the flower bent down in the flow. Mark braced himself and then lunged for the flower, his hand closing around its stem as the current grabbed his body violently and whisked him downstream. The flower came too.

He felt the rope grow taunt and felt himself being dragged back towards the bank. As it grew shallower, the current grew less, and he was able to place his feet on the ground and push his head out of the water, taking a grateful breath of air. It wasn't long before he was out of the water entirely and Dirk and Trevor were running towards him. Dirk reached him first.

"Man, you gave us a scare! Not cool!" Dirk was on his knees next to him and Mark was lying half in a daze on the ground, breathing hard. Mark smiled.

"Yeah," Trevor agreed when he arrived, "This flower hunting it getting to be _way_ too hazardous. We thought you were drowning!"

Mark laughed again as he sat up, "I was!" He held up the green flower and Dirk and Trevor both shook their heads.

"Man," Dirk said, looking at the flower, "all I can say is, I hope she likes it."

"Amen to that," Mark said as he looked at the flower.


	19. Chapter 19

Maddy left for school that morning in the rain, holding fast to Zoe's hand. Josh had Zoe's other hand and together they were swinging her between them, over the puddles that dotted the road. They were all thoroughly wet when they got to school, and people were actually handing out towels to kids who wanted them. Maddy took one gratefully as Zoe ran off to her class.

"I'll see you after school, k?" Josh said as he turned in the direction of his own class. Maddy toweled off her wet hair and peeled off her jacket. Thanks to superior water-repellant cloth, her cloths underneath were dry. She sighed as she continued to dry her hair, walking down the corridor to her first period classroom. She loved the way Mark was wooing her but she honestly just wished he'd get on with it and talk to her. All this sneaking around was starting to annoy her.

Walking into the classroom, she put her stuff down by the teacher's desk. Mr. Sanchez nodded at her and gave her a smile, holding out a book with pages marked for the day's lesson. Once everyone had filed in and the bell had rung, he began a surprisingly short lecture and then assigned problems for the class to work on.

"I have some business to attend to, but Miss Shannon will be here to answer any questions you might have. If there are any problems, I _will_ hear about it." He looked purposefully at a boy with black hair. "That means you, Garret."

With that, he left the room, leaving the door open.

The class was uneventful at first and Maddy chided herself for the butterflies that were jumping around in her stomach. She was just moving towards a student with her hand raised for help when Garret stuck his foot out to bar her way past.

"So," he began before she had a chance to say anything. "You're not only the smartest girl in Terra Nova, you're also the sluttiest."

"Garret Manders," Maddy began with a strong voice, "If you don't move your foot right now, I will make sure you have detention for a week."

Garret smiled and laughed. "Not detention for a week!" His tone was sarcastic. "So, you're not going to deny it?"

The boys sitting around him were also smiling and nodding, their faces stating they were obviously enjoying Garret's taunting.

"Tell us Maddy," Garret continued in a low voice, "how does it feel to have to share the father of your child?"

His dark eyes watched her for a reaction and Maddy could feel her eyes starting to burn and her cheeks turning red.

"You don't even know him," Maddy said in a slightly wavering voice, "don't pretend you do."

He smiled and stood up, his frame towering over her petite one. "No, I guess I don't. But I do know Laura. And, well…" he smiled at her, moving closer, making her back away from him. "She may be a lot of things, but she's no liar."

He continued to move towards her while Maddy backed away from him, his friends egging him on with cat calls and hollers. A couple girls in the class were weakly telling him to stop, but no one was defending her.

"Two sluts sharing one man," he continued, merciless, "seems appropriate."

That garnered a loud laugh from his supporters. Maddy steeled herself, blinking back tears, and reached forward to shove him as hard as she could, bringing her knee up in the process. But, he saw it coming and managed to grab her wrists before she had a chance to really hurt him. Pulling her to him, he whispered,

"You know, your offspring is gonna be just like you: a little baby slut."

With that, she pushed him away hard and he released her with a booming laugh, many of the class laughing along with him. Tears streaming down her face, she ran from the room, down the hall, and out into the pouring rain. She hadn't even grabbed her jacket and she found herself wet through in minutes. But she didn't notice. All she wanted was to get away, somewhere far away where no one could find her and everything would be normal, at least for a couple hours. Her tears mixed with the rain water. She felt the rain was her tears, falling in sheets from a grey sky.

Running blindly, she found herself automatically moving towards her favorite get away spot, far from the world and far from prying eyes. By the time she got there, her clothes were muddy and her hair was plastered over her face, her chest heaving from breathing and sobbing. Falling down to her knees on the rain saturated ground, she sobbed loudly, knowing no one could hear her.

OOOOO

"Joshua Shannon," his teacher called out from the front of class. Josh looked up from his work.

"Yeah?"

"Come up to the front please."

Josh complied, with everyone in the class watching him, wondering if he was in trouble. It wouldn't be the first time…

"Mr. Yang?" Josh asked. His teacher motioned to Mr. Sanchez, who was standing in the door, and Josh frowned.

"What's going on?"

Mr. Sanchez sighed. "Well Josh, you sister is missing. She was in class this morning when I left and she wasn't there when I got back. When she didn't return after the bell rang, I went to her next class to see what had happened but she wasn't there either. Do you know where she might have gone?"

Josh frowned. "Have you talked to my parents yet?"

The teacher shook his head. "No. We will, we just wanted to check with you and see if she told you anything."

Josh shook his head. "No, I don't know anything."

Mr. Sanchez nodded. "Okay, I'll let you know what happens."

Josh made his way back to his seat, his head swirling with thoughts. Sitting down, the girl next to him asked what had happened. Josh shrugged and didn't answer. She took a deep breath.

"Does this have anything to do with Maddy?"

Josh turned to her quickly and focused his blue eyes on her. "Why?"

She sighed and proceeded to tell Josh the whole story. As she told it, Josh's expression grew harder and anger started to shoot like darts from his eyes. It was everything he could do to keep himself from interrupting her story. When she was finished, Josh didn't trust himself to speak. Without warning, he stood up quickly, his chair crashing behind him, and made his way towards the door, his hands balled and his jaw tight.

"Mr. Shannon!" His teacher exclaimed. "Where are you going?"

Josh walked past his teacher, who reached out to grab his shoulder lightly. Josh shoved him against the wall without thinking, teeth clenched.

"I have to find my sister," he said in a tight tone and then left the room quickly, leaving behind a very shocked Mr. Yang.

OOOOO

Josh left the school quickly, jogging out into the rain, letting its coldness cool his anger and give him focus. _Where would Maddy go to hide and be alone?_ As he thought about it, one place came to mind and he knew she had to be there. Jogging faster, he made his way towards it, slipping a little in the mud, ignoring how dirty he was getting. As he approached the secluded place, he stopped running and walked carefully around a large tree, revealing an entrance into a glen of sorts. Trees were all around, shielding the place from view. There, in the clearing between the trees was Maddy, lying on the muddy ground, her face resting on her arm, her body shaking. Josh walked quickly in and sat down next to her, pulling up her mostly limp form and holding her to his chest. She didn't even acknowledge his presence but continued to sob, making burning tears come to Josh's eyes as well.

Though there were trees all around, the middle of the clearing was open to the sky and rain poured down freely over them, slowly cleaning the mud from Maddy's hair and face. Josh helped the process by pushing her hair back. When the rain started to let up some time later, Maddy's face was clean and her hair no longer muddy. A single, shy ray of light burst through the clouds and Maddy squinted in the unexpected brightness.

Sniffing hard, her head felt like it was full of snot, pressure filling her sinuses and making her face feel heavy. Her eyes were burning and swollen but the rain made them feel cooler. Pulling away from Josh, she pulled her hair back and tied it, looking at the ground. Josh sat, waiting.

"So," Maddy began in a quavering voice, "you heard what happened."

Josh clenched his jaw and nodded curtly. "One of your students told me."

Maddy nodded, seemingly uninterested.

"They're looking for you at school."

Maddy nodded again and sighed heavily. "Let them look."

"Mom and Dad will be worried."

Again Maddy nodded but didn't seem to care. Josh searched his mind for the words to say.

"You know they're completely wrong right?"

Maddy snorted and rubbed her burning eyes. "Easy for you to say."

Josh sighed. "What, so you think you and Mark are both sluts?"

Maddy paused a moment and shook her head. "No."

Josh watched her sad eyes with his blue ones. "But it's hard when other people think that."

A single tear fell from Maddy's eye and she swallowed. "Yeah…"

He reached forward to pull her in to him again, rubbing her back with his hands. "You know the only people who actually think that are stupid teenagers right?"

A slight laugh left her lips at that and he could feel her nod.

"And," he continued, "even they probably don't _really _think that. Garret was just trying to get a reaction out of you. He was just trying to hurt you. And the reason it hurt you was because you're _not_ a slut."

Maddy pulled away, wiping her eyes again and looking at Josh. "Thanks for finding me. I probably would have drowned in the mud if you hadn't come."

Josh smiled half way. "What are brothers for?"

A small smile crossed Maddy's face and she sighed, looking very tired. "Let's go home."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Josh took Maddy home and contacted their parents, who were almost frantic by that time. The pair arrived home soon after and Josh told them that Maddy was in the shower, proceeding to tell them the whole story of what had happened. His father was terribly angry, just as Josh knew he would be. Lis convinced him to stay and talk with Maddy instead of try to find the teenager who had caused Maddy so much pain. Jim swore he would be talking to Taylor later.

When Maddy got out of the shower, she became the center of attention and Josh was able to sneak out without them noticing. Still wet from being outside before, he didn't notice the continued rain and walked relatively comfortably towards the housing development. When he got there, he approached the man he knew to be the foreman, waving in greeting.

"Hello there!" the foreman greeted loudly, a large smile plastering his jolly face. "What brings you to this neck of the woods? Josh right? Shannon's boy?"

Josh nodded, his lips pressed in a thin line. "Yeah, I'm looking for Mark Reynolds?"

The foreman looked out among the houses and then pointed to one at the far side of the development. "He's over there, working on number seven. Is it anything urgent?" His eyes looked genuinely concerned.

"Uh… well, sort of."

The foreman looked at him with eyes that held years of wisdom. "Private eh? Well, go on then. If it's important, you tell him he can have the rest of the day off, k?"

Josh nodded. "Thanks."

He jogged quickly over to the house, his heart starting to beat in anticipation. He hadn't talked to Mark since that day Mark had informed them over dinner that Maddy was pregnant. It seemed like so long ago. If Josh was honest with himself, he realized he'd been holding a grudge against him all that time. He didn't know what to expect from Mark or how he would react to the news he was bringing him. He only hoped he could help Josh make things right.

Mark was coming around the corner of the house as Josh was arriving and they almost plowed right into each other. Josh stumbled and Mark caught him, pulling him back up from his near face plant. His green eyes were inquisitive.

"Josh? What's up? Everything okay?"

Josh's expression seemed to give him away and Mark was instantly on edge.

"What happened?" he asked quickly.

Josh motioned to a bench that was at the front of the house. "Let's sit."

They did and Mark turned his wet, hair-plastered head towards him, his eyes searching. "If you don't tell me what's going on soon, I might have to do something rash."

Josh grimaced at that and took a deep breath. "Maddy had some trouble at school today."

Eyes glaring, he stared Josh down. "What do you mean trouble?"

Josh stared at him with equal fire. "A boy from her morning class called her a slut; and you, and Laura, and your baby too."

Mark face turned disbelieving. "What?"

Grunting impatiently, Josh stared him down. "Just what I said, someone from her class called you all sluts." He paused for a moment. "And I want you to help me beat him up."

The younger man could see the anger growing in Mark's face as he realized what had happened; saw his jaw clenching and his breathing increase as anger started to take hold. After a moment, he turned to Josh, his eyes blazing.

"Let's do it."

OOOOO

They caught Garret just entering school again from lunch break. Almost everyone had entered school already, as the bell had already rung, and Garret was taking his time walking back in. Mark saw him from the back, looked to Josh for confirmation, and then approached him, pulling him by the arm out the door and onto the road. Without warning, he punched him hard in the face. Garret, realizing who it was that had him by the arm, tried to get away, but Mark was taller and stronger and Garret didn't stand a chance.

"You bastard," Mark said as Garret fell to the muddy ground. "If you EVER talk to my girlfriend AGAIN, I will personally see to it that you spend a MONTH in the brig. How DARE you!"

Garret tried to get up but Mark kicked him in the stomach, making him double over on the ground to protect himself.

"And if you EVER talk to my SISTER that way again," Josh said, continuing Marks sentence and giving Garret a kick for good measure. "I will make sure you're dropped off OTG without a gun."

Garret shuffled away a pace and managed to get back up, starting to run. They both followed him quickly, Mark swinging another punch to his face and Josh connecting with his kidney area. Garret swung his fist back towards Mark and managed to connect with his jaw, but Mark turned his head away so the blow barely grazed him. Grabbing him by the neck, Mark shoved him against the wall of the school and, seeing that he was stuck, Garret started to yell. Josh punched him in the face to get him to stop but he continued, seeing it as his only hope. Only a moment later, three soldiers came running, two of them being, of course, Dirk and Trevor.

"Hey!" Trevor yelled in his strong voice, not instantly recognizing Mark. "Let him go!"

A moment later, Mark felt strong arms pulling him back from Garret. Mark struggled and managed to break free for a second, but another pair of hands grabbed his other arm and soon, he was immobilized. Josh too was being pulled off Garret, held firmly by another soldier, one who Mark knew from his team. The soldier's expression was disbelieving and disappointed.

Garret, seeing that he was free, quickly ran off and Mark roughly shook off the hands holding him. Turning, he found two familiar faces watching him warily.

"What the HELL was that, Mark?" Dirk asked slowly, his brown face darkening with anger. Mark just stared at them, his jaw working, his lips firm.

"Mark?" Trevor asked, a little calmer than Dirk. Mark looked at them for a long moment and then turned, walking away deliberately. Dirk and Trevor looked at each other and then turned to Josh, who was still standing beside them.

"Well?" Dirk asked. Josh, his anger beginning to abate as he realized the seriousness of what they'd done, took a deep breath and let it out, proceeding to tell the story of all that had happened. When he finished, he could see Dirk and Trevor's anger.

Dirk shook his head. "Man, he should get a week in the brig for that. But what the hell were you thinkin' Josh? I mean, going after the kid to beat him up? Who does that? You should have just gone to Taylor."

Josh looked down, knowing he was right. "I wasn't thinking."

Trevor shook his head. "Yeah, and apparently neither was Mark." He rubbed his stubbly face with his hand for a moment. "I don't know what I would do if that happened to my girl but, he has to have better self-control than that. He probably _will_ do a week in the brig for that."

Josh looked away, feeling the seriousness of the repercussions. Lips pressed together, he remained silent.

Dirk let out a breath. Sighing deeply, he looked at Trevor. "Should we go find him?"

Trevor nodded, motioning forward. "Lead the way. Carmen," he said, turning to the other soldier. "You take Josh home, k? We'll report all this to Taylor later and be by to collect him. He's not to leave his house until we come to get him, understood?"

The soldier nodded. "Yes sir."

OOOOO

Carmen dropped Josh off at his house, knocking on the door. His father answered it and Josh inwardly groaned. Of all the people to answer the door, it had to be his father.

"Josh, Carmen, what's up?"

Josh stood straight, feeling his muscles tense as Carmen explained the situation to his father.

"You were beating someone up?" His father asked with a disbelieving expression, his blue eyes hard.

"It was Garret, the guy who was teasing Maddy." Josh said quickly, trying to explain himself.

His father still looked angry but understanding crossed his features. "Oh." Was all he said.

"Mr. Shannon, Josh is to stay inside until he's collected later today. He'll be talking to Taylor about punishment."

Jim nodded and pulled Josh inside by the arm. "Thank you."

Once Josh was inside, Jim released him and looked him in the eyes.

To Josh's surprise, his father asked, "You okay?"

Josh shrugged. "Not as angry anymore. Feel kinda stupid."

His father raised his eyebrows. "That's a good start."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Yeah…"

Jim sighed and scrubbed his face for a moment, looking at Josh again. "Look son, I know I haven't been the model of forgiveness or understanding and I realize that actions speak louder than words but, going after someone to beat him up is not the answer."

"Yeah, but you-

"Didn't I just say I haven't been the model of forgiveness?" Jim cut him off. Josh nodded. "Okay then," he continued. "What I'm trying to say is, reacting this way almost always makes things worse. And you beating this guy up isn't going to keep him from doing it again, and it's not going to make the hurt in Maddy go away." Jim sighed hard and shook his head. "I admit, the first thing I wanted to do was go find this kid and do just that, beat him up. But I know that, first of all, I can't, and second of all, it's not going to help."

Josh nodded, his eyes avoiding his fathers. Jim sighed and pulled him into a tight hug, releasing him a moment later. "Come on," he said, "why don't you take a shower. You're turning into a raisin from being wet so long. And you smell horrible."

Josh had to smile a little at that. He did smell horrible.

OOOOO

It took him some time but Dirk eventually found Mark near the gates at the south end of Terra Nova. He radioed Trevor first and then carefully approached Mark. As he did, Mark heard him and turned around, connecting eyes with Dirk. Raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, Dirk gave him a look.

"Hey man, I'm not here to take you in, I'm just here to talk."

Marks hard expression softened a little and he let out a breath, turning back to look through the gate at the foliage beyond. Dirk walked up to him and stood next to him at the gate.

"So," Dirk began, watching Mark out of the corner of his eye. "What happened?"

Mark sighed and shook his head, continuing to look forward. "I don't really want to talk about it."

Dirk raised his eyebrows and then rested his arms on the gate bar. "Well, you don't have to talk about it with me, but you are going to have to talk about it with Taylor. We can either back you up or not. I'm not willing to do that until I know the whole story."

Mark worked his jaw and then gave a deep sigh. "I was stupid, that's what happened. I let my emotions get the best of me."

Trevor quietly came to stand at the other side of Mark, nodding in greeting. Mark barely acknowledged him.

"That…" Mark paused as he pressed his lips together. "…kid, called Maddy horrible things… and our baby too. As if Maddy doesn't have enough to deal with already."

Dirk frowned, glanced at Trevor, and then said, "What, so you beat him up?" Dirk shook his head. "Not the smartest thing you've ever done man."

Trevor could see Mark growing angry again so he quickly jumped in. "Look Mark, what I think Dirk is saying is that you can't let your emotions rule you." He shrugged. "Most of the time, you're pretty good at that, but when it comes to Maddy…" he paused and whistled lightly. "You've got some work to do."

Mark seemed to calm down and shook his head, burying his face in his hands on the gate bar. Trevor continued. "My Grandma used to say, 'boys do what they feel, which usually means getting' revenge and makin' problems. Men do what's right, even if they don' feel it, which usually means givin' forgiveness and lettin' things go.'"

For once Dirk didn't comment on Trevor's Grandmother's sayings; he just waited to see what Mark's reaction would be. After a moment, Mark lifted his head from his hands and blew out a breath. Around them, the jungle sounded; dinosaurs and birds calling loudly to their mates. The rain had let up somewhat and was drizzling down lightly, drops sounding on the large green leaves. They were far enough from the settlement that the only sounds meeting their ears were natural ones. Mark took a deep breath of the fresh air, his eyes welling with tears against his will.

"You're Grandma is right," Mark managed to say through the glob that was filling his throat. "And I'm still a boy in so many ways, how can I be a father?"

Trevor sighed and glanced at Dirk, who was still standing on the other side of Mark. "You know Mark, I'm not a father so I don't really know how it works, but it seems to me that, if you want to be a good father and you want to be a good man, then you're going to have to take steps to make sure that happens." He paused for a moment and then continued. "And a good start to that process would be handling this situation like a man."

Mark swallowed thickly and rubbed his eyes with his hands. The three stood at the gate for a long time, looking out into the jungle, listening to the sounds, the rain dripping down on them. After some time, Mark broke the silence by turning from the gate.

"I know what I have to do." He glanced at Trevor and Dirk in turn. "Would you guys mind delivering that flower to Maddy's place, and let her know I'll be stopping by?"

Dirk almost asked if that was a wise idea but, seeing the look on Mark's face, he stopped himself and nodded curtly.

"We'll see you at home tonight then?" Trevor asked, looking at him a little sternly.

Mark smiled a little. "Yes Dad. I'm not going to run off like I did last time."

Trevor let out a small laugh. "Okay." Clapping him on the back, he pulled him into a bear hug. After releasing him, Dirk too gave him a firm hug, then watched him walk away, back towards the settlement.


	21. Chapter 21

Hi guys! So, since I've had a couple requests for more, I've decided to finish this story after all. I took some time to read over the whole thing again and watch some Terra Nova clips (since the full episodes have been taken off line). Hopefully the characters are still right. Please enjoy!

Chapter 21

As Mark walked through the foliage, back towards the buildings, he considered the things Trevor had said, the things his Grandmother had said. It was true that good fathers don't let their emotions reign. His own father had been a testament to that. Unbidden, his father's laughing face came swimming into focus. He'd died long ago, when Mark was only a boy, but he still remembered his laugh so well. He had been a very different man than Jim Shannon, but Mark could see their similarities.

He smiled. Jim tended to let his emotions grab him in the moment, but he never seemed to do anything he later regretted. And Mark had to admit, even though it had taken him a few days, he had been quick to forgive Mark what Mark considered a grievous error.

Now Mark had to prove that he too could be that kind of man.

Thinking about what he was going to do, his mind rebelled. He didn't want to forgive Garret and he certainly didn't want to apologize for his actions towards him. Garret had been in the wrong, after all. But, when he thought about his father, about how kind and controlled he was, and yet how strong, Mark knew he had been wrong to go after Garret. Physical violence was never the answer and it was always uncalled for. Combat training was one thing; he thought with a wry smile, punching someone out was another matter entirely.

With the knowledge that he'd been wrong firmly planted in his mind, he made his way towards Garret's house. It wasn't far, and before Mark knew it, he was standing on their porch, holding his breath, and hesitating to knock. Visualizing his father again, he knocked hard.

The door swung open, revealing an older woman, who smiled. "Yes?"

"Uh," Mark stammered. "Hello Ma'am, is Garret here?"

She nodded. "Yes he is. Is this about the fight he got into at school?"

Mark smiled thinly. "Well… yes ma'am it is. I was wondering if I could talk to him?"

She nodded. "Sure. I'll send him out to the porch."

Mark sat on the wooden swing to wait and a moment later, Garret appeared in the door way, the door closing behind him. Seeing who it was, he almost bolted away, but Mark reached out to grab his arm.

"Hang on- hang on!" Mark exclaimed as Garret tried to shake him off. When he stopped struggling, he seemed to realize Mark wasn't going to hit him and relaxed slightly.

"Wha'd you want?" He asked, his dark eyes wary. Mark sighed. Garret's face was a mess. One black eye, a split lip, divided skin over his cheek bone. Mark briefly remembered what Garret had said to Maddy and felt anger boiling up, but he quickly pushed it down, thinking of his father and imagining that he was there with him.

"Look, Garret…" Mark cleared his throat. "Coming after you like that was… completely uncalled for. I'm sorry I punched you and I'm sorry I let my anger get the best of me."

Garret looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. When it seemed that Mark was being serious, Garret spoke.

"Did someone like, put you up to this? Why would you apologize? You know what I called your girl."

Mark blew out a breath, trying not to let the anger come to the surface. He locked eyes with Garret. "Yeah, I do know." He paused. "But, I also know that beating you up was _not _the right way to handle it. And, no one put me up to this. I just… wanted to say that I'm sorry."

Garret stared at him for a good minute, as though waiting to wake up from his dream at any moment. When that moment didn't come, he blew out a breath, rubbing his head and turning away in disbelief.

"I've never had anyone apologize to me like that before. It's hard to believe, y'know?" After a moment he turned back to look at him, locking eyes.

"Man, I'm sorry about what I said to your girl. I'll leave 'er alone from now on." He seemed like he wanted to say more, but nothing more came out. They looked at each other and an unspoken bond seemed to pass between them. Mark nodded curtly.

"Thanks." Mark went to leave but turned back as he stepped off the porch. "Garret?"

He raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement.

"I appreciate the apology but, Maddys the one who needs to hear it, not me."

Mark gave him a thin smile and then left, walking towards the Shannon's.

OOOOO

A couple minutes later, Mark arrived at the Shannon's door and seemed to realize where he was. Up until then, he'd been so focused on getting there, he hadn't thought about what he would say when he arrived. He hesitated, wondering if talking to Maddy was the right course of action. Ideally, he'd wanted to wait until he'd delivered all the flowers. As it was though, he thought it best that he talk to her now. She needed him and he wanted to be there for her.

Giving the door a firm knock, he waited, tapping his foot as he did. A moment later, Mark was surprised to see Josh at the door. They gave each other a look and then Josh slipped out, closing the door firmly behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Josh asked him, giving him an incredulous look.

Mark sighed. "I came to see how Maddy is doing. I was hoping to have a chance to talk to her. I thought she might need me."

Josh looked at him for a long moment and then nodded. "Yeah, you're right. She does." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Look, Mark, no one except Garret, you, me, and your room mates know about what happened. I can just let everyone know it was me who went after him, not you."

Mark shook his head quickly. "No Josh, it's okay. I need to stand for what I did. It wasn't right. Even if he was horribly mean to Maddy, that didn't give us license to go beat him up."

Josh looked at him for a long moment and then raised his eyebrows. "Yeah… so my dad tells me."

Mark had to smile a little to himself at that. He sighed. "Look, Josh, I'm sorry I agreed to help you find Garret. It was stupid and immature."

Josh shrugged. "It's okay. If you hadn't, I probably would have gone after him myself and then, well… I would have probably been a huge mess."

Mark laughed and slapped him on the back. "Yeah. I'm gonna have to teach you some moves so that doesn't happen in the future."

Josh sighed and rolled his eyes. "Right."

OOOOO

A moment later they were inside with Josh leading the way. Maddy was sitting on the couch with her mother beside her, drinking hot tea. Her father seemed to be missing but he came out of their bedroom a moment later. When he caught site of Mark, he seemed caught off guard and Mark couldn't tell if he was happy to see him or angry at him.

"Mr. Shannon," Mark nodded at him. Jim nodded back. Maddy seemed to notice him for the first time and looked up sharply from her tea.

"Mark!" She exclaimed, getting up quickly and bounding over to him. Before he had a chance to stop her, she had her arms around his neck and her face buried into his neck. Mark replied with an "umph" and then slowly snaked his arms around her waist. He noticed with alarm how much bigger she'd gotten. Not noticeable, perhaps, to the naked eye observer, but very noticeable to his arms that were squeezing her waist.

"You've grown," he whispered lightly into her ear. She pulled back and he saw that her face was glistening with tears.

"Yeah," she said quietly. He released her and wiped her face dry, giving her a small smile.

"I've missed you." The words were simple, quiet, but completely true and exactly what Maddy needed to hear.

"I've missed you too!" she said, as more tears filled her eyes and she buried her face into his chest again. He sighed and smiled sadly, wondering if he'd been wrong to wait so long to see her.

"I'm so sorry about what happened today."

Maddy nodded against his chest and Mark felt that most of her sadness on that particular issue was spent.

"Did you get my flower today?"

Pulling away slightly, she motioned to the counter and Mark saw the green flower there, in a glass filled with water, the head of the flower bobbing just under the surface.

"It's beautiful, and very unique," she said in a croaky voice. "I like it." She took a deep breath and turned back to Mark, looking at him with soft eyes.

"Mark?"

He nodded.

"I just want to say that, I forgive you for kissing Laura and I hope we can love and trust each other again."

Mark felt his chest swell in response and tears fill his eyes. He blinked rapidly to keep them from falling and gave her a tight smile.

"Thank you Maddy, that's more than I could have hoped for. I really do want to be here for you and I'm so sorry for being stupid and hormonal." Taking her face between his hands, he looked deep into her brown eyes. "I love you."

She smiled and a tear fell down her cheek. "I love you too."

He almost leaned down to kiss her but saw her father watching them closely from the couch. Releasing her face, he straightened and took Maddy's hand, pulling her over to the couch and sitting down. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Jim.

"Mr. Shannon, sir, I have something to tell you." He glanced at Josh briefly, who quickly jumped in.

"He knows already Mark, he knows I went to beat up Garret."

Mark nodded slightly and then looked back at Jim. "What Josh didn't tell you was that I went with him to beat up Garret."

Jim's blue eyes grew hard and Mark could see his jaw clenching.

"It was my idea dad," Josh put in quickly. "I went to find Mark to see if he would help me."

Jim glanced at Josh and then back at Mark. Sighing, he took a breath. "Look Mark, I told Josh earlier that I understand his feelings and, when I was your age, I might have done the same thing. But going after Garret doesn't make anything better and it doesn't change what happened. You're going to be a father soon and you need to learn how to be a good example for your kid. Going after people and beating them up isn't the legacy you want to leave."

Nodding, Mark held Jim's eyes. "I know that sir. I'm sorry."

Jim nodded slightly and then sighed, looking from one boy to the other. "You know we're still going to have to tell Taylor."

They both nodded resignedly and Jim pressed his lip into a thin line. "Okay then."

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Jim rose to answer it and the open door revealed Taylor, Dirk, Trevor, and Carmen. Taylor nodded at Jim.

"Jim, it looks like you know why I'm here."

Jim nodded resignedly and opened the door wider so they could come in. Taylor looked over at Mark and gave him a look that made his stomach drop. He couldn't hold it and looked away. Taylor looked at Jim.

"I'm gonna have to take them both in. We all know what happened so the only thing left to do is pass punishment. Maybe you want to help decide what that should be?" He looked at Jim questioningly.

Sighing, Jim nodded, knowing punishment was inevitable. "Why don't we sit."

Taylor and Jim both made their way to the couches while the rest of the guard stood by the door, awaiting further instruction. Taylor gave Mark that same stare he had before and then looked at Jim.

"Seeing as Mark is already under punishment for a previous offense, I've half a mind to banish him for a couple months and then reassess the situation." He paused and everyone in the circle made noises of protest.

"As it is," Taylor said, cutting off the noises, "I don't feel I can do that in good confidence with Maddy in the condition she's in. So, I'm thinking that both boys will be sentenced to seven days in the brig. After that, Mark will be moved from housing duty to latrines, and once those are finished back to housing duty. As for Josh, I think a week of latrines would do him some good."

Jim nodded and the general consensus around the circle seemed to be reluctantly for the punishment.

"What about Garret?" Josh asked.

Taylor raised his eyebrows and nodded his head. "He will also be punished for the serious infraction he committed. I hope you know, Miss Shannon, that he was completely wrong. He was just trying to get a reaction out of you and assert control over you. We've been having trouble with him already. This incident is just another on a long list. I hope you know it has no true bearing on your character."

Maddy smiled a little and nodded. "Thank you," she said softly.

Taylor sighed and fixed Mark with a glance. "You and I need to have a serious conversation. But let's head on over to the brig and get you two settled and then we'll talk."

Turning to the rest of the group, he looked at them apologetically. "I'm sorry but I'm not going to allow visitors for the first three days. Solitary confinement will do them both some good. You'd best say your goodbyes now."

Getting up from his seat, Taylor made his way over to the door and stood waiting while they said their goodbyes. Mark and Maddy hugged each other hard, Mark bending over to kiss her gently on the lips. Zoe started to cry and grabbed Josh around the legs, refusing to let go. Jim was finally able to placate her with the promise that they would see Josh in four days. With that, Mark and Josh marched down the road towards the brig with Taylor at the head.

OOOOO

Josh and Mark were put in separate cells so their confinement was truly solitary. Mark had just sat down on the hard metal bench when Taylor entered his cell, closing the door with finality behind him. Mark found he was unable to meet Taylor's eyes.

"Mark, look at me."

Taylor's voice left no room for argument and Mark reluctantly looked up at him, setting his face for the worst. Taylor's blue eyes were icy.

"I don't know if you realize the seriousness of what you've done Mark. I understand the emotions that must have been running through you when you found out what happened to Maddy but I don't understand how a trained soldier can have so little self-control. You beat up a minor and a civilian, two things that are absolutely forbidden unless someone's safety was directly in danger. Was someone's safety directly in danger Corporal Reynolds?"

Mark immediately recognized the tone of his commanding officer and stood to his feet at attention. "No sir!"

"And were your actions used to detain a dangerous criminal to keep him from committing more crimes?"

"No Sir!"

"And did those actions put you in direct violation of the army creed?"

"Yes sir!"

"And do those actions therefore put your rank in jeopardy, if not your army standing?"

Mark felt a tightening in his chest as he answered, "Yes sir!"

Taylor stopped then and looked at Mark, looking as though he could see directly into Mark's soul. Mark held his stance and stared at the wall. After a moment, Taylor sighed.

"At ease soldier. Sit down."

Mark did as he was told and looked as Taylor sat across from him.

"Corporal Reynolds, do you think your unit can continue to respect and trust you after the two infractions you've committed, the second in front of a soldier under your command?"

Mark felt a tight ball form in the pit of his stomach. After a moment, he looked down and covered his face with his hands.

"No sir," he said quietly.

There was silence for a long time. Neither soldier moved, neither made a noise or motion to say something, neither needed to. The only sound that reached them was the calls of birds, far away out the small window at the top of the cell.

Finally, after a long time had passed, Taylor took a deep breath and rose from his seat. Quietly making his way to the door, he opened it with a squeak. Pausing a moment to look at Mark's hunched form, he closed the cell behind him with a crash. Mark didn't even look up.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

That night, after Zoe was put to bed, Lis spent a long time placating Maddy. Though Maddy knew everything was going to be all right, the pressures of the day had added up and ended in Maddy having an emotional breakdown right around bed time. Jim took the opportunity to work out his own feelings, mostly bordering on the anger side of emotion. He ran around the compound several times before he felt it was finally time to turn in.

Opening the front door quietly, he saw that Lis was still in Maddy's room, the soft light from her lamp spilling under the door. Sighing, he made his way to their bedroom, striping off his shirt and tossing it into the laundry pile. To Jim, it felt like dominoes were falling and the avalanche was just gaining momentum. One thing after another kept happening to his family. First it was Maddy's pregnancy, then it was their break up, after that Jim found out the reason for their break up, _and_ to top it off, Maddy was made fun of at school, Josh and Mark beat the guy up, _and now _they were in jail. Great…

Thinking about the long list once again, he felt the anger grow in his chest. The fact that his anger was returning made him angrier and pretty soon he felt almost as bad as when he had left. Unannounced to him, he had been steadily growing louder in his pursuit for the shower, the noise finally culminating in a slammed dresser drawer, a muttered curse, and a hard kick at the wall. He briefly took a moment to realize how hard the walls were and made a note to remember that fact the next time he was angry.

Standing with his forehead against the cool metal seemed to calm him a little. After a moment, he pulled back, giving the wall one more good kick and heard a short exclamation behind him.

"Jim! What's wrong?" Elisabeth had returned to their room, shutting off all the lights behind her. He turned slowly, looking at her from across the room.

"What wrong?" he asked incredulously.

Elisabeth sighed and moved towards him. "I know it's been a hard day Jim-

"A hard day?" Jim asked, his face still incredulous. "This is what you call a _hard day_? Maddy got made fun of at school by a stupid, sniveling teenager, Josh and Mark went after him and _beat him up_, AND Josh and Mark are _both _in JAIL, leaving Maddy crying in her room at the end of the day! That's not just a bad day, that's a certified DISASTER!"

"Jim…"

"No, Lis, I'm sick of all the problems this family is having! I wish Maddy could be the little girl she was before, and I wish I didn't have to love Mark because I don't want to!"

Lis could feel her own anger brewing in response to his and she fought to hold it back as Jim continued to rant.

"Damn it Lis, why didn't Mark use his head before he rushed off to beat up that kid? I'm mean, come ON, he's 23, and yes, I KNOW 23 is not that old but he's old enough to know better. And Josh, what was HE thinking, going to find Mark and asking for help beating him up? And that leaves Maddy in her room BALLING at the end of the day. You call that a HARD day?"

Lis, also tired from the long day, let her self-control crack. "Are you saying I don't know that today was a disaster? Jim, I spent HOURS tonight trying to console our daughter who just went through one of the hardest days of her life since the day YOU were carted off the jail. Don't you dare think that I don't know how hard today was."

It was obvious Jim was trying to think of a good comeback but nothing popped into his head. All he could feel was the anger and adrenaline pumping through his system, and that didn't make a good combination for thinking. Turning away, he kicked the wall again and buried his face in his hands, standing like that for several minutes. He could hear Lis moving around the room, banging around the bathroom, getting ready for bed.

When he felt the anger abate somewhat, he let his hands fall, taking a deep breath as he did, and turning to the closed door of the bathroom that was in their room. Knocking lightly, he heard a soft "come in" from inside. Pushing it open, he found Lis sitting on the counter inside, wearing her pajamas, her eyes filled with tears. Looking at her from the door jam, he let out a long breath.

"Lis I'm sorry."

She smiled at him slightly and nodded.

"It's just…" Jim started and felt his throat oddly thick. "It's just a lot to take in all at once…" Their eyes connected and Lis could see the tears glistening in Jim's eyes.

"I just really…" he continued, "I really love Maddy and, I want her to have a good man who's going to support her and care for her and love her and never leave her. And I don't want Josh running after people to beat them up, thinking that's the answer to his problems!"

His tears were spilling down his cheeks now but he plowed on. "And, I want to beat up that kid myself for what he did to Maddy, I want to take the whole day back so she doesn't have to feel anything she felt today but I know I can't do that! And I just don't want my kids, my babies, to have to go through all this shit!"

As he was talking, Lis pushed off the counter and walked to him, enveloping him in a hug around the shoulders. As she touched him, he felt his legs weaken and they sunk to the bathroom floor, Liz holding him to her chest and enveloping his strong body with her smaller one.

He shook as he cried, all the emotions of the past month taking over. Maddy's pregnancy, their breakup, Maddy's trouble at school, Mark and Josh going to jail. Lis was the only one he felt like he could be this vulnerable with, his tough cop façade falling down in the face of his children's pain, his worthiness as a father questionable in his mind. The tears continued to come and Lis held him for a long time.

OOOOO

The next morning, Jim made his way into the bright daylight as usual, ascending the stairs to Taylor's office. Yes, yesterday had been a disaster but last night had been healing for Jim, and he felt much better going into the day. He raised a hand to rap on Taylor's door but paused mid-action as he heard Wash and Taylor talking with raised voices.

"I understand that he's in the military and held to a certain set of standards," Wash was saying, "but taking his rank after everything he's been through is going a little far!"

"Wash, you _know _that I'm the last person who want's Mark to fail. But I can't let him get away with things that other soldiers wouldn't. I care for that boy like he's my own and I have to make sure I don't favor him."

"Nathaniel, you _know _as well as I do that you're overcompensating and making Mark's punishments ten times worse than it would be for anyone else. Mark's a good soldier! He's a good man! He's just made some mistakes."

"Well, he certainly has."

There was a pause and then Wash spoke again. "Look, sir I'm not disagreeing with any of his other punishments. I just want you to reconsider your decision to take his rank. He's a natural leader and you know you can trust him."

"_I _know I can trust him Wash," Taylor said, emphasizing the 'I', "But, the questions is, does his team?"

The conversation sounded like it was over to Jim so he quickly removed himself from the door and went to stand at the balcony. Sure enough, Wash came walking out a moment later, practically running down the stairs and not even noticing Jim.

Sighing, Jim looked out over the Terra Nova gates. Mark was a good man, he really was, but he didn't think anything he or Wash said was going to change Taylor's mind about his rank.

OOOOO

Maddy's day at school was acceptable. Word had spread about the incident the day before with Garret, and no one even mentioned it in passing, which Maddy was grateful for. When she entered Zoe's classroom just after lunch, she was almost knocked over by Ashlynn in her haste to envelop her in a hug. This proved a little difficult because of Ashlynn's huge stomach but the sentiment was the same. When Ashlynn pulled back Maddy smiled at her.

"You heard?" Maddy asked. Ashlynn nodded and gave her a grimace.

"I'm so sorry. Teenage boys are stupid."

Maddy laughed out loud at that and smiled widely. "Yeah, well, it's a good thing my boyfriend is firmly _out _of that category then huh?"

Ashlynn smiled. "That's the spirit!"

Maddy was measured again by the kids and they found she had grown more still. They all made jokes about her coming in to school next week being as big as Ashlynn, except Maddy was pretty sure all the children thought it was true.

By the time she went home, Zoe holding one hand and Lily the other, she was thoroughly cheered up from the day before. Everything, it seemed, would be all right after all and Mark would soon be out of the brig. Then they could really start to work on their relationship.

Arriving home, Zoe ran in before her and Maddy followed, sitting down to take off her shoes. She heard her father ask Zoe to go play in her room for a while. When she got up again, she realized that her dad was sitting at the table with Garret and an older woman she assumed was Garret's mother. Stiffening, she held her breath. Her father noticed her reaction and stood, giving her a reassuring smile.

"It's all right Maddy, they're here to apologize."

Maddy, for her part, was shocked. She didn't move for a moment until her father invited her to come and join them. Moving then, she did so slowly, keeping a wary eye on Garret, who was looking down at the table. Sitting down beside her father, Jim put a protective arm around Maddy and she relaxed slightly, knowing he was there to protect her. The older woman introduced herself.

"Maddy, my name is Candace, I'm Garret's grandmother."

_That explains why she looks so much older than Garret_, Maddy thought.

"I took over Garret's care after my daughter died."

Maddy nodded and Candace paused for a moment, turning to look at Garret. Feeling her eyes on him, he reluctantly raised his head and met eyes with Maddy. Taking a deep breath, he seemed to steel himself.

"Look," he began carefully, "I just came to say that… I'm sorry for what I said. It's not true. About you, or Mark, or… the baby. And, well… I just wanted to let you know that, about an hour after Mark came to beat me up, he came to my house and… well, he apologized to me- for beating me up. No one's ever done that before so…And, well, I just thought I should come and say sorry to you."

Even though Maddy could still feel the fresh wounds from the day before, the fact that Mark had apologized to Garret had her near tears. She didn't know how she'd gotten so lucky as to have a man like Mark, but she prayed she would never lose him.

"He… apologized to you? For beating you up?"

Garret smiled a little. "Yeah, crazy right? I mean, if I was him, I probably would have near killed me, you know?"

Maddy nodded a little and Candace looked at her grandson with, what Maddy thought was a sad look. Taking a breath, Candace gave both Jim and Maddy a tight smile.

"Well, I sure hope you have a healthy baby, Miss Maddy. You won't be hearing anything else from Garret, unless it's good things, right?"

Garret nodded and looked down at the table again. Candace rose, taking Garret by the arm and pulling him along with her.

"Thank you for having us and allowing us into your house after what happened yesterday."

Jim rose also and followed them to the door, Maddy following closely. "It's all right Candace; you just keep an eye on Garret."

Candace laughed as Garret went out the front door. "Oh Mr. Shannon, Taylor's been doing that better than I ever could. Believe me, after the punishment he has in store, I hope Garret never wants to cross him again."

Jim nodded and gave her a tight smile. He knew the kind of punishments Taylor liked to dole out.

"Oh and Jim, Miss Maddy," Candace turned as she left the house, "I just want you'all to know, it wasn't my idea to come over here. That was all Garret's doing."

Smiling, she left the house and Jim turned to envelop his daughter in a tight hug. Maddy sighed against her father's chest. She hadn't guessed that Garret would apologize to her in a million years. But the fact that he had, made all the difference.

OOOOO

The next morning Jim made his way to Taylor's office, this time with a very specific mission in mind. Rapping on the door, he heard a noise of assent from within and pushed the door open.

"Jim, how are you this morning?" Taylor asked, standing from the seat he had at his desk.

"Well," Jim said, rubbing the back of his head with one hand, "All things considered, pretty good." He paused to look at Taylor for a moment. "Garret came to our house yesterday to apologize to Maddy."

Jim could tell Taylor was surprised. "Did he now?" Taylor responded, raising his eyebrows. "I wouldn't of thought it of him."

Jim nodded. "He also told us something interesting I thought you would want to know."

Taylor waited, giving Jim an interested look. "And what might that be?"

"The day Mark and Josh beat up Garret, Mark went to apologize."

Taylor frowned. "For beating Garret up?"

Jim nodded sideways. "That's what Garret said."

For a moment, Taylor looked at Jim as though he didn't quite believe him. Then, he walked slowly over to the window that overlooked the jungle behind Terra Nova, resting his arms on the sill. After a long moment he turned around again and looked at Jim.

"Well I'll be darned, maybe Wash was right after all."

Not wanting to admit he'd been eavesdropping, Jim asked, "Right about what?"

Taylor got a smile on his face and shook his head. "I told Wash yesterday that I was thinking about taking Mark's rank from him, not discharging him mind you, just demoting him. Well, she thought that was a little harsh and I had to disagree. Maybe I was wrong."

Jim sighed and walked over to join Taylor at his place at the window. "You know Taylor, as much as I hate to admit it, Mark is an honorable guy. And yeah, I know he impregnated my daughter, I remember that every day, but most of his actions since then have been sweet, hell even romantic." He looked at Taylor. "Did you know Mark has given Maddy a flower for every color in the rainbow, along with a note putting together the color of the flower and something he likes about Maddy?"

Taylor laughed. "Well, I told him to make sure he did something memorable. I'd say that about qualifies."

Jim shook his head and looked out over the jungle again. "And besides that, I've seen him with his unit. They all look up to him and respect him. He knows how to command without being hard. He knows how to listen; all pretty remarkable things to say about a 23 year old kid."

Turning to lean against the side of the window, Taylor looked at him. "You know, I've known Mark since he was a boy, really a boy, and I've rarely known him to let his emotions rule him. Sure, he had a couple typical teenage infractions but nothing serious. Seems like your daughter sure did a number on him."

Laughing out loud, Jim gave him a look, "Hey now, don't pull my daughter into this." Taking a pause, he continued. "In all honesty, that's what Lis did to me, made all my emotions spiral out of control, made everything feel bigger and more intense."

Taylor smiled knowingly and they stood there thinking for a time. After a while, Taylor broke the silence with a heavy sigh. "I'm just worried about what the other soldiers will think if I don't discipline him enough. I'm worried it will… set a bad precedent."

Jim shrugged. "Well, it's not like he's getting off easy. He's in the brig in _solitary confinement_ for three days, _and _another 4 after that. Then, he's on latrines, and then he's back on housing duty with no guarantee for when he'll be put back on active duty as a soldier! That's hardly getting off easy Taylor."

"Well," Taylor said with a laugh, "When you put it that way, I guess it does all sound like a little much."

"A little," Jim said sarcastically.

Taylor sighed. "I just want to be the best father I can be. He's like a son to me."

Jim raised his eyebrows in appreciation. "Believe me, I know the feeling."


	23. Chapter 23

Two days later, Josh was visited by his family, Zoe especially happy to see him. The four Shannon's entered the hall where the cells were and immediately saw Josh, sitting on a bench, behind primitive metal bars, humming a song with his eyes closed.

"Josh!" Zoe exclaimed as she ran to the cell, her hands closing around the bars. Josh jumped slightly and then smiled when he saw his family approaching and Zoe's smiling face trying to squeeze through the bars. Walking over, he knelt down in front of Zoe and hugged her through the bars.

"Hey Zo, how are you?"

She giggled. "I'm good. I miss you though. I want you to come back!"

Josh smiled. "I'll be coming home soon, in four days. How does that sound?"

Zoe gave Josh a pouty face. "But, that's longer than you've been gone already!"

Josh laughed and patted her on the head. "You'll be all right. You can come visit me every day."

Standing up, he hugged the rest of his family, a small feat as their bodies were separated by metal bars. Jim smiled as he gave his son a slap on the back.

"Josh, how's solitary confinement?"

Josh shrugged, crossing his arms. "Boring… but three days isn't so bad."

Josh's eyes moved to Maddy. "How are you doing? Seen Mark yet?"

Maddy shook her head. "No, I will though. And I'm fine. Commander Taylor is really putting Garret through the ringer so that's something anyway. He hasn't been in school for the past three days."

Josh nodded. "That's good news. What's Taylor got planned for him?"

Maddy raised her eyebrows and a small smile came to her face. "Well, from what I hear, Taylor's got Garret doing basic training in addition to his studies. I guess he's also been sleeping in the brig, but in a secluded section so no one else can see him. I hear it's only temporary so we'll see when he comes back to school."

Josh smiled. "Well, at least the punishment works both ways."

After talking with Josh for a while, Maddy excused herself and went down the hall and around the corner in search of Mark. The night before, she had baked cookies with some kind of fruit and a ground up reed that passed for sugar. She hoped he would like the gift.

When she came upon his cell, she took a moment to observe him. He was leaning against the wall, in a chair squat, his hands on his thighs, his breathing controlled and deep. His face was relaxed and his eyes closed. Maddy wondered how long he'd been sitting like that. She knew from gym class that she couldn't hold that position for more than two minutes without taking a break. She figured he could hold it for longer but was impressed none-the-less.

After a moment of watching his chest rise and fall, she approached his cell and stood, holding the bars, in his line of sight. Seemingly sensing a presence, he opened his eyes and his piercing stare connected with Maddy. A smile broke on his face and he hurriedly stood and walked to her, threading his arms through the bars to hold her body to him. Unbidden, Maddy started to cry.

"Hey," Mark said as he realized she was crying, "What's wrong? I'm fine! Everything is going to be okay. You're fine too… You are fine right? Maddy?" He pulled back from her and looked into her face, concerned.

Maddy smiled through her tears. "No, I'm fine! And the baby's fine too, don't worry. I'm just happy to see you. And, well… I missed you!" More tears started to fall and Mark laughed a little as he hugged her again, wishing the bars weren't there.

"I missed you too Maddy. I love you." He kissed the top of her head gently and played with her hair with one of his hands. After a moment, she stopped crying and pulled away. Reaching around her, Mark gently put a hand behind her neck, leaning down to kiss her. When their lips connected, he felt tingles run the length of his body. It had been so long since he'd really kissed her. He wished the bars were gone.

Deepening the kiss proved difficult because of the metal and a moment later, he pulled away, smiling and laughing a little.

"Damn bars," he said. Maddy laughed and smiled at him. Taking the bag she had on her shoulder, she pulled out the container with cookies.

"So, I made cookies for you last night. It's some kind of fruit I found growing in the east corner and sugar reed. Want one?" Her face was questioning and he smiled widely.

"Want one? Of course I want one!"

They both decided that sitting on the floor would be the most comfortable way to catch up, so after they had both settled themselves on the floor, Maddy opened the container and handed him one. He took a bite and nodded appreciatively.

"Yup. This is definitely why I love you!"

Maddy laughed and slapped him on the arm. After they had munched on the cookies in silence for a moment, Mark put his down and took Maddy's hand through the bars, looking suddenly serious.

"Maddy, I just want you to know I'm so sorry for going after Garret like that. It wasn't the right or mature way to deal with the situation."

Maddy shook her head. "It's okay Mark, I can't say I'm all that sorry you beat him up anyway."

Mark laughed. "Has he been in school?"

Maddy shook her head. "Nope. Taylor has a great punishment lined up for him. It involves basic training." Mark smiled and Maddy continued. "And, you know what else?"

Mark looked at her expectantly. "What?"

"Garret came to apologize to me."

Mark frowned and looked at her like she was joking. "Really?"

Nodding, Maddy smiled a little. "Yeah, I was really surprised and so was my dad but it seemed really sincere. And he told us that you went to apologize to him too."

Letting out a breath, Mark nodded. "Yeah, I did. It seemed like the right thing to do. It seemed like something my dad would have told me to do."

Maddy cocked her head to the side. "Your dad?"

He smiled. "Yeah, he died when I was a kid."

"I'm so sorry Mark," Maddy said, squeezing his hand. He shrugged.

"It was a long time ago." After a pause, he said, "You know, when I went over to apologize to him I actually told him he should apologize to you so… apparently he took my advice."

Maddy shook her head. "I guess sometimes people surprise you…"

Mark nodded and then sighed, dropping Maddy's hand. "And sometimes they don't."

"What do you mean?" Maddy asked, her face frowning. Mark sighed again and rubbed his hand over his head.

"My rank might be taken away."

He said it quietly, swallowing thickly after he did. Maddy frowned.

"What? Really? Why?"

He took a breath and looked almost angry, his voice raised. "Because, Maddy, I totally disregarded the soldiers creed and went after a civilian and a minor for no other reason than the fact that I was angry at him. That's completely unacceptable for a soldier, much less an officer. I just don't know if my men can respect me again after that… at least not for a while."

Maddy's face contorted as she looked at Mark's sagging body. "Of course they can respect you! I bet any one of them would have done the same thing if they were in your position!"

Mark stood suddenly, his body stiff. "No, Maddy, they wouldn't. That's why I don't think they can respect me. I know my men. I know that most of them, in my position, wouldn't have done anything of the sort. They know better." He shook his head, turning away from Maddy. "Taylor's right to take my rank."

Anger beginning to seep into her, Maddy stood also. "Mark! Look at me!"

Mark continued to breath, his back to Maddy, his muscles tight. Maddy sighed.

"Mark, you're beating yourself up about something that's already over with! You apologized to Garret and he even apologized to me! Everyone is okay and everything worked out! Can't you see that, even if going after Garret was a mistake in the first place, it's all right now? And I know Taylor can be a severe commander but, he knows a good leader when he sees one." Maddy paused, noticing wet spots appearing on the concrete beneath Mark's feet. When she continued, her tone was softer. "Mark, you are a good soldier and a great leader. The guys in your group respect you and listen to you. Taylor's not going to throw that away."

After a moment, Mark turned around again, his face wet, his eyes slightly red. He came towards her and pulled her close to him through the bars.

"I love you Maddy," he said in a voice thick with tears.

"I love you too."

00000

That night, Taylor came to Mark's cell and knocked on the bars, jolting Mark out of another focused chair squat. He quickly stood at attention and nodded to Taylor.

"Sir, what brings you here?"

Taylor eyed him and gave him a small smile. "Well… do you mind if I come in?"

Mark shook his head, a smile pulling on his lips. "No sir, as if I have a choice anyway."

His eyes sparkling, Taylor opened the cell and walked in, taking a seat on the chair across from Mark's cot. "Sit down Mark."

As Mark did as he was told, Taylor rested his arms on his knees. "Jim Shannon told me something interesting." His blue eyes bored into Mark's green ones.

Slightly worried, Mark said, "Sir?"

Clearing his throat, Taylor continued. "He told me that you apologized to Garret."

A little embarrassed, Mark nodded slowly. "Yes sir, I did. I… well, I thought- it was something my father would have wanted me to do."

"From what Wash tells me, I'm sure that's true Mark, I'm sure that's true."

Mark sighed. "Well, anyway, I didn't really want you to know."

Taylor frowned. "Why's that?"

Shrugging, he sat back against the concrete wall. "I didn't want that action to affect my punishment. I felt that I should get what I deserve. After all, what you said before is completely true; I totally discarded the soldiers' code of honor. I know I wouldn't follow an officer who broke it so I can't ask my men to follow me."

Taylor got a sad look on his face. "Mark, sometimes you're too good for your own good and I was blind not to see that."

Mark gave him a confused look. "What?"

Laughing a little, he got up from his seat and went to look out the high window. "I've known you for a long time, Mark, and Shannon made me realize that I've rarely seen you lose it, in any sense of the word." Taylor chuckled. "We decided Maddy's really done a number on you."

"Yes sir," Mark said, some laughter creeping into his voice.

Taylor turned. "Well, I realized that you're going through a rough patch but that's really to be expected because of all the pressure that's been put on you." He paused a moment. "Shannon also made me realize you already have a severe enough punishment, what with the brig, working the latrines, and being taken off active duty."

He sighed and moved to sit across from Mark. Once he was settled, he looked into Mark's eyes. "Look son, what I'm trying to say is- I'm not taking your rank. I would be honored to have you remain a corporal under my command."

Taylor had expected Mark's face to be happy, or at least relieved, but all he saw was disappointment, even sadness. Taylor frowned.

"What is it?"

Mark let out a long breath and rubbed a hand over his head. "Sir, I mean no disrespect but, I don't think I can take my position back after what I did."

"And why's that?" Taylor asked.

"Because of what I said before." Mark stood, crossing his arms. "Because I don't think I could follow a leader who did that so I can't ask my men to do that either."

Taylor pressed his lips together in thought. "Well, all I can say is that you are going to stay a corporal in my army. You're a good man Mark; you're a natural leader and a trustworthy soldier. And just so you know, Shannon agrees with me."

That caught Mark's attention. "_Jim Shannon_ agrees with you?"

Taylor rose. "That's right, he does. So, what do you have to say now?"

After a moment, Mark sighed, "Well sir, I just feel like I should explain myself to my men, tell them what happened and be honest about my mistakes."

Taylor nodded slowly. "I think that would be just fine Mark, granted you maintain that you're still their commanding officer."

He nodded. "Of course. I just think it would be better if they heard it from me and not some rumor on the street."

Taylor smiled. "You know Mark, Shannon was right about you. And I was blind to miss it." He placed a hand on either of Mark's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "You are a good man, don't let anyone tell you any different. And you're going to be a wonderful father."

Mark's eyes misted over as Taylor said it and they grasped each other in a hug. When they broke apart, Mark smiled.

"I haven't told you yet; Maddy and I are back together!"

"Are you now?" Taylor asked with interest as he guided them back to their seats. "Well, I'd like to hear more about that…"


	24. Chapter 24

Over the next couple days, Maddy continued to help at school with Zoe; Jim and Lis continued their jobs, and Josh and Mark started their work on the latrines, much to their dismay. Josh was probably dreading the work more than Mark since he had previous experience.

The first morning they started their work, two soldiers that Mark only knew by sight, came to their cells and gave them orange jumpsuits to wear that Josh so colorfully called "Hell's Uniform", both because of the horrible color and the lack of breathing, making the wearer feel like a piece of meat stuck in an oven.

As they made their way outside into the slightly oppressive Terra Novan heat, Mark could feel the suit begin to take on warmth and knew it was going to be a long day. When they arrived at the latrines, which were as far away from the settlement within the gates that one could go, Mark groaned and Josh looked like he was almost ready to throw up.

There was already a group of workers there, standing on the edge of the septic tank, using long shovels and other tools to shovel out the hole that was in the ground. Everyone present had on the same orange jumpsuits and goggles but nothing covering their noses or mouths. The smell alone would have been punishment enough but they actually had to handle the waste too. Josh swore he would never cross Taylor again and felt very sorry for the people who's job this was all the time.

They were met by one of the overseeing engineers and debriefed on safety, possible problems that may arise, and what they would be doing. It seemed there were two things being done with the waste. First, they took out as much as possible and had it carted to the covered drying beds next door so it could be used as fertilizer. _Gross _thought Josh. Second, anything that didn't fit in the drying beds was deposited in the incinerator that disposed of the waste instantly, leaving only harmless byproducts that needed to be disposed OTG. It was a piece of equipment they had brought with them from 2149.

Much to their dismay, Josh and Mark were put on drying duty. This basically meant they had to lay out the waste on drying beds from carts that the people working at the latrines were wheeling over. _Gross_ thought Mark.

They made their way slowly over to the drying beds, which were really just plots of land covered with sturdy wooden roofs and set aside for drying use. They saw the plot they were supposed to use and saw the waiting cart full of waste for them to shovel. Mark grimaced and Josh swallowed hard, his stomach churning. This was going to be a long day.

When they arrived in front of the cart, Mark eyed Josh.

"So," he said, clearing his throat. "You want to do the honors?"

Josh looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you kidding? Be my guest." He stepped back and leaned on his shovel, giving Mark a look.

Sighing, Mark approached the cart and swallowed hard. "I guess one of us has to do it first, right?"

It was clear to Mark that Josh was trying to keep down breakfast. His lips were pressed firmly together and his nose was flared wide in disgust. As Mark took his shovel and dug it into the crap, it made the most horrible squishing noise he'd ever heard and a rancid, pungent smell was released. Mark felt sick to his stomach and Josh all but ran to the nearest bush, heaving before he even got there.

Mark coughed, thankful he at least had goggles. "Do you have to _add _to the smell, man?" He yelled after Josh. Josh promptly held a hand up behind his kneeling form and gave Mark the finger. Mark shook his head and looked at the wheelbarrow with disgust.

"You know, the first day's the worst." Another cart was arriving, pushed by a man also wearing an orange suit. "You really _do_ get used to the smell. Not sure if that's a good thing or not but…" he glanced toward Josh's hunched form. "Tell your friend, huh?"

Mark gave him a weak smile and the man turned to walk back to the pit. Shaking his head, Mark pulled his shovel out of the crap and deposited it on the drying beds, beginning to lay it out. He could almost feel the smelly molecules attaching themselves to his body. When he was finally released from the brig, Mark had a feeling Dirk and Trevor would never let him hear the end of it. It would surely be the butt of many jokes for months to come.

OOOOO

A couple days later, when they were finally released from the brig, Josh made his way home quickly, hoping he would never have to be on latrine duty again. He made a secret pact with himself to never do anything to upset Taylor again. When he got home, he found his dad sitting on the porch reading his tablet. He looked up when Josh arrived.

"Josh," he said, a smile sliding onto his face. "You're home! Why the long face?"

Josh almost stuck his tongue out at him. "Oh haha. I'm gonna take a shower."

Jim raised his eyebrows and watched him go inside. A moment later, he heard Maddy shriek and a great deal of commotion coming from inside. Soon after, Maddy had joined her father on the porch with Zoe close behind.

"Yuck!" Zoe exclaimed loudly. "Josh STINKS!"

Maddy laughed at her sister's disgust and heard their father laughing behind them.

"Yeah, maybe we should have hosed him off before he went inside?" Jim's eyes twinkled as he looked at Zoe. She shook her head.

"No, I don't think that would have helped. He's WAY too stinky." She walked over to sit next to her father and Maddy followed, sitting down on his other side.

"So," Maddy said, "If Josh is home that means Mark is also released, right?"

Jim smiled. "That's right. But, he's probably showering so he doesn't ruin your opinion of him." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, Josh did smell pretty bad." Maddy leaned back against the back of the swing and crossed her arms over her growing stomach. She sighed thinking about Mark, happy that he had been released, and hoping things would be able to get back to semi-normal now. Zoe reached over her father's legs to put a hand on Maddy stomach.

"Maddy, I can see the baby now! So, that means you have to name it! We can't just keep calling it baby."

Maddy laughed and looked at Zoe's earnest brown eyes. Her father also laughed and smiled at Maddy.

"She's right you know. After you go to the doc you guys should pick a name." Her father raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I guess. It feels like if I name the baby, then it will be more real. That's kinda scary."

Jim nodded. "Well, that's true. But it's not going to go away just because you don't name it."

She nodded. "I know."

Zoe started stroking Maddy's belly. "Hmm… I think we should name it Dino."

Maddy burst out laughing. "Dino?"

Zoe nodded, her smile big. "Yeah!"

Lis emerged from the house at that moment and smiled at them. "And what is everyone doing out here?"

Jim craned his neck to look at her. "We're just talking about baby names."

"Yeah!" Zoe exclaimed and hopped off the swing. "I think we should name it Dino!"

Lis laughed and picked her up, sitting down on the swing next to Jim. "Dino? I don't think that's a good name for a baby."

"Why not?" Zoe asked with a slightly pouty lip.

"Because," she continued, "that's a better name for a pet."

Zoe thought about that for a moment, her face concentrated. "Okay, well… how about Spot?"

The other three laughed together.

"Or Flower?" Zoe continued. "Or blue… or leaf… I still like Dino the best…"


	25. Chapter 25

After being released from the brig, Mark made his way quickly home. He could feel how much he smelled and he had no interest in running into Maddy or anyone else he knew while he reeked to high heaven. Arriving at his door, he opened it slowly, knowing he would get assaulted by his roommates for the smell. He stood in the door way for a moment, looking into their house, and spotted Dirk sitting on the couch reading his tablet. The pungent odor of onions reached his nose and he thought Trevor was probably standing at the counter cutting things for dinner.

Dirk suddenly started sniffing and then turned around quickly, spotting Mark standing in the doorway. His face broke into a disgusted expression as his nose wrinkled up.

"Seriously dude?" Dirk asked with a disbelieving expression. A moment later, Trevor rounded the corner, a knife in his hand and a towel over his shoulder. He too wrinkled his nose at him and then started coughing.

"Dirk's right, what the hell were you _doing _today?" Trevor's blue eyes started to water and Mark sighed, closing the door behind him.

"I was cleaning latrines, as part of my punishment." Mark had previously withheld that piece of information because he knew he would never hear the end of it.

Dirk's face broke into a wide smile and he jumped off the couch, walking over to Trevor to slap him on the back.

"What an incredible smell you've discovered!" Dirk put on his best Han Solo voice and smiled at Mark. Trevor just looked at him with a sick expression. Mark too failed to see the humor in the situation, but that was probably because he'd been mucking out latrines all day.

"Peeusa!" Dirk said, flashing Mark his white teeth. For all his seriousness, that garnered a snort from Trevor that quickly became a laugh. Dirk laughed loudly with him and Mark couldn't help but smile.

"Okay you guys, let me get in the shower before we have to fumigate this house."

Dirk raised his eyebrows at Trevor. "He's right you know. This house might never be the same."

Trevor nodded, looking at Mark. "Yeah, and the shower may never be the same if we let him use it."

Getting a slightly wicked look in his dark eyes, Dirk looked at Mark. "Yup, I think other plans are in order."

Feeling very frightened by the look in Dirk's eyes, Mark looked between his two roommates and thought briefly about trying to push through them and make a dash for the shower. But, he knew he'd never make it.

Dirk and Trevor shared a glance and then, without warning, Trevor had dropped his knife and they were both grabbing an arm and pulling him back outside. The racket they made was unbelievable and it was a miracle the neighbors didn't come running to see who was being murdered. Although, they were probably used to the noise by now.

They dragged him to the front of the house, with him moaning in protest, and then Dirk made a dash for the hose. Grabbing it quickly before Mark realized what was happening, he pulled the lever and sent the resulting stream of water in Mark's direction. The chill of the water had Mark sputtering and running, Trevor having abandoned his hold on him, and from then on it was a fight for the hose, all of them succeeding in getting entirely drenched.

In the end, they all had considerably more scrapes and bruises than they had started with, but their faces were happy and Mark was a good deal less smelly, though he did still take a shower once they were done.

And though he hadn't really been in the mood to roughhouse when he came home, Mark decided it really was good to be back.

OOOOO

A couple hours later, Mark came calling at the Shannon house. They had finished dinner and Maddy and Josh were sitting on the couches playing a game while Jim gave Zoe a bath. Lis opened the door and revealed a very clean, green shirted Mark. Maddy jumped up from the couch the instant she realized who it was and ran to him, enveloping him in a hug and almost knocking him over in the process. Mark buried his face in Maddy's dark hair, breathing in her scent and holding her close. After a moment, he loosened his hold and looked into her dark eyes with his green ones. She felt the butterflies dance in her stomach.

"I'm glad you're home," she said a little shyly. He smiled widely and touched her face with a hand.

"Me too." Leaning down, he let his lips brush hers and kissed her briefly, aware of Josh and her mother looking on. Pulling away reluctantly, he looked up and raised a hand in greeting to Josh.

"Hey," he said, "smells like you were able to get the stink off."

Josh rolled his eyes and came over to greet Mark. "Yeah, I think I was in the shower for about an hour."

Laughing, Mark gave Josh a quick hug. Maddy watched them with curiosity.

"So," she said, "seems like being in jail together did you two some good."

They both looked at her and then looked at each other, obviously sharing a secret joke. Josh smiled.

"Yeah well, there's something to be said for cleaning latrines together."

Maddy wrinkled her nose in disgust. Just the thought of that smell made her want to vomit.

"Well," she said, "I'm glad I wasn't around to witness that."

Mark laughed. "I'm glad you weren't too."

There was an awkward pause for a moment and then Josh cleared his throat.

"Uh, I'll let you two catch up."

"No," Mark cut in, "we'll go outside, if that's okay with you Dr. Shannon?"

Lis, from her position at the counter, turned and put her hand on her hip. "Mark, what did I ask you to call me?"

Clearing his throat, Mark said quickly, "Elisabeth, sorry."

Smiling, Elisabeth nodded. "All right then. You can go outside, just don't be too late, hm?"

Mark gave her a military nod and took Maddy's hand. "Shall we?"

Maddy smiled, extremely excited to finally have Mark all to herself without anything else interfering.

They went outside into the darkness of the evening, the stars twinkling down on them. Taking a seat on the porch swing, Maddy snuggled close to Mark, his arm around her shoulders. She could feel his rhythmic breathing under her head. After a moment, she said,

"Mark, I didn't have a chance to tell you before but, I received the last of your flowers."

He smiled to himself. "Yeah, I figured the boys would keep sending them. Did you like them?"

She nodded against his chest. "I did, a lot. And especially the last day; the purple day lily."

Smiling again, he nodded. "Yeah, I thought you would like that one. You know, I'll have to tell you all the crazy stories from that week some time. We sure went through a lot to get you those flowers!"

Maddy laughed. "I can imagine. Most of the flowers were not easy to get."

Mark rolled his eyes. "That's right, I'm dating a genius. I should have known you would know those flowers weren't easy to get. Hey, does that mean our baby is going to be a genius too?"

Maddy laughed and sat up. "Well, I hope so. But, I wouldn't mind if our baby was more like you than me."

He smiled and his eyes got a faraway look in them. "Yeah, that wouldn't be so bad would it?"

They sat in silence for a moment, the sounds of the jungle reaching them on the porch swing. Maddy sighed, feeling safe in Mark's arms.

"Mark," she began again. "My mom says we can go and find out the sex of the baby soon. Would you like to come with me? We can go tomorrow if you have time."

Smiling widely, his green eyes looked down at her. "I would love that Maddy. I'm sorry these past several weeks have been so hard. I hope things will be more stable for us now. I mean, I know things won't be _normal _or _easy _but hopefully they'll be better than they have been."

She smiled again and shrugged. "It's kinda hard to beat the past couple weeks so, I'm sure it will be better."

Mark shook his head. "Yeah, with you telling me you were pregnant for the first time, all the stuff with Laura, your family's reaction, my punishment, Garret… Seriously it's almost like we live in an overly dramatic story."

Biting her lip to try to hold in her laughter, her eyes danced as she looked at him.

He frowned. "What?"

Giving up her fight, she let her giggles burst out and covered her mouth to keep them from being obnoxious. Mark looked at her in confusion.

"What's so funny?"

Taking a breath, she forced herself to talk through her laughing. "I don't know! It's just, you're right about all the stuff that's gone wrong! It IS like we live in an overly dramatic story! I mean, think about everything that's happened! It's just… funny!"

Mark started laughing because Maddy was laughing and his eyes danced as he watched her. "I guess it is funny."

Maddy continued to laugh and Mark laughed with her. Pretty soon, Josh and Lis came out to see what all the ruckus was about and found themselves laughing along with the couple. After all, everything that happened w_as _kind of funny, especially since it was all in the past, and it had been too long since they'd all had a good laugh.


	26. Chapter 26

Hello again to my faithful readers and commenters. I'm sorry this has taken me so long to wrap up. This summer I went on a trip from Los Angeles to New York City on a bicycle. Since we took a circuitous route, it was about 4,000 miles in all. My journey was taken to raise money for and awareness about poverty here in the US and abroad. It was a wonderful and difficult experience. I did not have consistent access to internet, nor did I have time to write. But, because of my readers, I felt the need to finish this story. It's been very enjoyable to write. Thank you all for being such dedicated readers and commenters.

OOOOOO

Several months later, it was a warm, humid night and the sky was incredibly clear. The stars were twinkling down and a giant moon graced the horizon. A family of seven gathered in a private room in the hospital, all staring down adoringly at the newest member of their family; a beautiful baby boy with a full head of thick, dark hair.

It was a quiet moment. After the pain and intensity of labor, all seemed remarkably still and no one felt inclined to break the silence. The baby too was noiseless, sleeping soundly in his mother's arms, small noises of contentment coming from him intermittently. His mother, Maddy, had tears in her eyes, both from exhaustion and love. His father also had tears glistening in his eyes as he looked down in the face of his child who looked so much like him.

The space was sacred and it felt as though all the pain had been worth it for just this moment.

Zoe, the youngest, was the one who broke the silence, but the sacred space still lingered.

"Maddy," she asked as she broke away from Lis and moved to sit carefully on the bed. "He is beautiful."

She reached out to touch his face lightly with her fingers, smiling as it garnered a small yawn from him. Leaning down carefully, she placed a soft kiss on his mouth and then pulled back, her eyes shimmering.

"He certainly looks like Mark doesn't he?" Lis commented softly, and she smiled at him as he looked up and smiled back.

"Yeah, except the nose," Josh added. "I think he has a Shannon nose."

Maddy looked up and nodded, a small smile pulling at her lips.

Taking a breath, Mark turned to Maddy, looking at her motherly form, the love pasted on her face, the soft eyes that looked at their son. He smiled a little and then took a breath to speak.

"Maddy," he said and she turned to lock eyes with him. "I've been waiting for the right moment to do this and it's clear to me that this is the perfect moment." He reached under his collar and brought out his tags, around which a solid silver ring was also hanging. Taking a moment to undo the chair, he slipped the ring off it and then got to one knee next to the bed. Maddy's eyes glistened with more tears as she realized what he was going to do and he held out the ring to her.

"Maddy Shannon, I can't imagine being with anyone else. I love you and I love our son… more than I thought possible. I don't ever want to love anyone but you. I know we've had our struggles but I trust in our ability to work things out. I'm sorry we've done things a little backwards but I love you so much anyway. So, Maddy Shannon, will you marry me?"

Maddy, who's eyes were now spilling tears onto her cheeks, smiled through them and nodded. Standing to sit on the bed, Mark gathered her in a hug with their son in between. Feeling Maddy and his new son, Mark knew without a doubt that he had made the right decision. He wanted to be with them forever.

Jim smiled a little at them and pulled Lis to him in a tight embrace.

"You see," Lis said, "they're going to be just fine. And even though there will be struggles, we'll be there to support them the whole way."

Jim nodded above her and watched as Mark tried to find a finger to fit the ring on.

"Maddy," Zoe asked, when Mark had found a finger that worked, "what is the baby's name?"

Maddy and Mark looked at each other, smiling, and turned to look at her—no, their—family.

"Nova," Maddy said softly, "his name is Nova."


End file.
